Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani was quoted by the Iranian Tasnim news agency in response to the final statement on Thursday of the Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers' meeting, saying that the three islands "Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb" are an eternal and integral part of the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Kanaani also said that the recent statement of the GCC meeting lacks any political and legal value, he said.
Iran has always emphasized "friendly and constructive cooperation in the field of energy, including the Arsh oil field," which is Iran's name for the Durra field, he said. Gulf states should use the Gulf's surface and non-surface resources on the basis of good faith and historical rights in line with the common interests of the states, he said.
GCC Statement
The GCC Ministerial Council said in a statement issued at its 157th session, held on Thursday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, that it affirms "the positions and decisions of the Cooperation Council firm rejecting the continued occupation by Iran of the three islands of the United Arab Emirates, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa."
He also stressed "support for the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands, territorial waters, airspace, continental shelf and exclusive economic zone as an integral part of the territory of the United Arab Emirates, and considering that any practices or actions carried out by Iran on the three islands are null and void and have no impact on the right of sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands."
The cabinet called on Iran "to respond to the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to resolve the issue through direct negotiations or recourse to the International Court of Justice."
With regard to the Durra oil ring, the GCC Ministerial Council affirmed that "the ownership of natural resources in the submerged area adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti Divided Zone, including the entire Durra field, is the joint property of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait only, and they alone have full rights to exploit the wealth in that area."
It also affirmed the categorical rejection of any claims of rights to any other party in this field or the submerged area adjacent to the Divided Zone with its designated border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Calls for negotiations
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have repeatedly announced that they are the sole owners of the Durra gas field, as part of a dispute that is escalating after Iran threatened to continue exploration.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have repeatedly called on Iran to negotiate the eastern boundary of the submerged zone divided with them, in accordance with the provisions of international law and the principles of good neighborliness.
Iran and Kuwait have held talks for years on the disputed natural gas-rich maritime border area, with little result.
Recent attempts to revive negotiations have failed, and Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said in August that Tehran could continue drilling in the field even without a deal.