Page 386 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

The Formation of the Federation

Dubai. Qatar and Abu Dhabi mcl informally lo discuss the future of
the Union.
The British Government sent Sir William Luce on his fourth visit lo
the Gulf, starling in Teheran in May. He was primarily concerned
there with negotiations regarding the ever more persistent Iranian
claim to the islands of Abu Musa and the two Tunbs.02 He also paid
several visits to Bahrain and the other Emirates, following which the
Residency in Bahrain circulated a memorandum to all the nine Rulers
containing Sir William Luce’s suggestions for compromises on the
four points which were still in dispute after the second Saudi-
Kuwaili mission. His proposals met the same fate as those of the
mission in that they failed to bring about agreement on these points.
After his return lo London a new round of visits and frantic
deliberations recommenced in the Gulf.93

Bahrain and Qatar opt out while Abu Dhabi prepares
for the worst
During early 1971 Bahrain became increasingly preoccupied with
normalising its relationship with Iran. The continental shelf between
the two countries was demarcated in an agreement signed on 17 June.
The Iranian Foreign Minister. Ardeshir Zahedi, arrived on 23 June,
from the start reiterating Iran’s claim to the three islands near the
Straits of Hormuz and emphasising that his country would oppose
the federation if the question of the islands was not settled first. It
was rumoured that the big neighbour tried lo impose certain
conditions94 on Bahrain in return for allowing it a free hand in
choosing its political destiny.
It became increasingly obvious that the authorities in Bahrain
were still hoping that their country would be part of the federation
and thus be less vulnerable to Iranian pressure. But the majority of
the educated population of Bahrain did not really want to be
integrated with a society which in their eyes still had some way to go
to reach Bahrain’s sophistication. By June 1971 it became clear that
Bahrain could be reasonably secure on her own, enjoying peaceful
co-existence with Iran, Saudi economic and moral support, as well as
the prospect of close technical co-operation with other Gulf States.
So, the would-be partners in the federation of nine Emirates were
privately informed that Bahrain would soon “go it alone”. The
declaration of independence was broadcast by the Ruler, Shaikh Tsa.
on 14 August 1971 after the formation of the United Arab Emirates,

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