| Siege of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs | |||||||||
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Map of the Strait of Hormuz |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Iran | Sharjah | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | Sheikh Khalid III ibn Muhammad al-Qasimi | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 3 KIA 1 WIA |
None reported | ||||||||
The Seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs occurred on 30 November 1971 when British forces withdrew from the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. Immediately following British withdrawal from these islands, Iranian marines laid siege to and gained territorial control of the islands for the first time since 1921, when the islands were first captured by Britain.
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The island of Abu Musa had been a part of Iran from antiquity until the early 20th century[1]. The Tunbs were in the dominions of the kings of Hormuz from 1330 until 1507 when they were invaded by Portugal. The Portuguese occupied the island until 1622, when they were expelled by Shah Abbas. In the early 20th century the islands were occupied by the British Empire on 7 June 1921, and they were put under administration of the Emirate of Sharjah. In 1971, shortly before the end of the British protectorate and the formation of the UAE, Iran seized semi-control of Abu Musa under an agreement of joint administration together with Sharjah. A day later on 30 November 1971, Iran seized the Islands and took control over them.
On 30 November 1971 the Iranian Navy seized the islands under small resistance of the tiny Arab police force stationed there. The Iranians were instructed not to open fire, and the first (and according to some sources only) shots came from the Arab resistance which killed three Iranian marines and injured one. According to some sources, the Arab civilian population of Greater Tunb was then deported, but according to others the island had already been uninhabited for some time earlier.[2]
In the following decades, the issue remained a source of friction between the Arab states and Iran. Negotiations between the UAE and Iran in 1992 failed. The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice,[3] but Iran refused. Tehran says the islands always belonged to it as it had never renounced possession of the islands, and that they are part of Iranian territory.[4] The United Arab Emirates argue that the islands were under the control of Qasimi sheikhs throughout the 19th century, whose rights were then inherited by the UAE after 1971. Iran counters by stating that the local Qasimi rulers during a crucial part of the 19th century were actually based on the Iranian, not the Arab, coast, and had thus become Persian subjects.[5] In 1980, the UAE took its claim to the United Nations.[6] In 1992, Iran increased its control by expelling foreign workers. One of Saddam Hussein's goals of his eight year Iran–Iraq War was to capture the Islands from Iran; he did not succeed.
