Page 390 - UAE Truncal States_Neat
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The Formation of the Federation

         Zahedi insisted that it was a matter to be decided between Britain
         and Iran alone, and threatened that Iran would oppose the federation
         of Arab Emirates if this question were not settled to Iran’s satis­
         faction. The Shah as well as Prime Minister Hoveida repeated that
         Iran would use force if necessary.
           Anxious to resolve this problem, which the respective shaikhdoms
         were not expected to negotiate themselves,100 Britain engaged in an
         intensive dialogue with Iran, and Sir William Luce never missed out
         Teheran on his frequent visits to the Gulf. He presented various
         British compromise proposals to the Iranian government, Sharjah
         and Ra’s al Khaimah, as well as some other members of the projected
         federation. The British Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home,
         frequently consulted with the Iranian Ambassador to Britain, Amir
         Afshar. The British government maintained, without being explicit,
         that the islands belonged to the Arab shaikhdoms, but in the face of
         Iranian intransigence, Britain eventually sought to soften the impact
         of the Iranian blow and negotiated certain conditions for condoning
         a compromise. Both Britain and the Ruler of Sharjah, in the interests
         of stability in the Gulf, resigned themselves to the fact that Iran’s
         determination to have a military presence on Abu Musa could not
         be ignored.
           The Ruler of Sharjah, the late Shaikh Khalid bin Muhammad, took
         an active part in the search for a solution, visiting Iran in early 1970
         and agreeing to set up a joint committee, which, however, did not
         materialise.107 Instead Iran’s conditions were conveyed to Shaikh
         Khalid by Sir William Luce. These conditions were unacceptable to
         Sharjah mainly because sovereignty over the island was to fall to
         Iran after two years; the only positive aspect of the deal was Iran’s
         offer of economic aid to Sharjah.
           To demonstrate to Arab governments the extent of the Iranian
         claim and the reality of the threat on the one side, and his own
         inability to deal with this situation alone, Shaikh Khalid sent, on 23
         August 1971, a lengthy memorandum to a number of Arab States in
         which the history of Abu Musa’s connection with Sharjah is
         chronicled and the steps in the negotiations are described. The text of
         the memorandum culminated in an appeal to the Arab States for
         support in at least averting loss of sovereignty: “Sharjah appreciates
         that it is not appropriate at this stage to request its Arab brothers to
         use force against Iran to prevent it from occupying the island.
         However, we hope that all the Arab States will support us in our

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