Iran slams Canada for supporting UAE claim over three Gulf islands

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has criticised Canada's support for the United Arab Emirates' claim to three Gulf islands, questioning Ottawa's commitment to territorial integrity and national sovereignty. In a post on X, Baqaei said the UAE, established in 1971, was laying claim to Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb despite "historical records and geographical and documented evidence establishing their Iranian ownership". He said the islands had been part of Iran for millennia, long before the UAE federation was established, and criticised Canada's prime minister for echoing what he called an “absurd claim”. Baqaei invoked Canada's own history of defending its sovereignty, citing the American invasion during the War of 1812, the Montreal Annexation Manifesto of 1849 and US President Donald Trump's repeated remarks about making Canada the 51st US state. “How can it take sides in a fabricated dispute and endorse an unfounded territorial claim that amounts to dangerous adventurism?” he said. The UAE was established in 1971. Yet, despite the overwhelming historical record، geographical facts and documented evidence concerning Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, it lays claim to these IRANIAN islands whose history of being part of IRAN stretches back many millennia before the establishment of the federation itself. Remarkably, Canada's Prime Minister has chosen to echo this absurd claim! Canada, of all countries, must understand the importance of territorial integrity and national sovereignty as its own history is marked by the American invasion during the War of 1812, the Montreal Annexation Manifesto of 1849, and, more recently, Donald Trump's repeated threats to turn Canada into the 51st state of the United States. A country that has spent more than two centuries defending its territorial integrity against the ambitions of its southern neighbour - how can it take sides in a fabricated dispute and endorse an unfounded territorial claim that amounts to dangerous adventurism? Is territorial integrity and respect for historical and legal facts a fundamental principle for Canada, or does it matter only when Canada's own sovereignty is at stake? Does Canada not realize that, in doing so, it is effectively sawing off the very branch on which it sits? — Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) October 31, 2026