Era of ‘divide and rule’ of Europeans in West Asia is over: Iran FM

Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has harshly reacted to a joint statement issued by the European Union (EU) and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) after their Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels that carried several anti-Iran etheric, including false claims on the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf.

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Araghchi took to his X social media platform on Wednesday night to express his opposition to the statement and wrote: “EU-GCC summit joint statement on Iran carries many messages”. “To us, it is becoming clear that the path of respectful cooperation we offered in several meetings, including in New York, is being met with European desire for confrontation-including via absurd accusation that Iran is engaged in “occupation,” the top diplomat mentioned in his post. “The three islands have always belonged to Iran, and will forever remain as such”, he added, referring to Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa islands in the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian foreign minister took a barb saying “the era of European malign divide & rule interference in our region is long over”. On Wednesday, leaders and representatives of the EU and PGCC issued a lengthy statement covering almost all regional and global issues with their call to resolve them diplomatically. The statement mentioned several accusations against Iran related to nuclear program as well as three of its islands in the Persian Gulf which the statement claimed to have been occupied by Iran in violation of the sovereignty of the UAE and the principles of the Charter of the UN.



That despite the three Persian Gulf islands have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found in historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other countries. Iran has, time and again, warned against baseless claims by the UAE about the three Iranian islands and the issuance of political statements in collaboration with other parties, saying those statements lack legitimacy and do not undermine Iran’s legal status or sovereignty over the islands. 4399.