Page 4 - AsianOil Week 49 2022

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

Iran, China at odds in disputed

islands row following Xi visit

to Saudi Arabia

The Straits of Hormuz are a major export route for Middle Eastern crude.

GLOBAL IRAN’S foreign ministry on December 10 took by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was in
the rare move of summoning China’s ambassa- 1971 that the then-shah of Iran dispatched the
WHAT: dor to Tehran after Beijing issued a joint state- Iranian royal navy to the three islands after the
China is urging talks on ment with Arab states that controversially dealt British withdrew their armed forces from terri-
the status of the disputed with the matter of three long-disputed islands in tories that are today the UAE. Iran has ever since
islands, controlled by the Strait of Hormuz. rejected statements from Emirati leaders that the
Iran but claimed by the Though there was clear anger in Tehran at islands belong to the UAE. The inhabitants of the
UAE. the move, Iran’s leadership was obviously tak- islands are all Persian-speaking Arabs who use
ing pains not to upset China with its response the Bandari dialect of Persian, which is infused
WHY: to the statement—instead of announcing that with Arabic words and syntax.
The dispute is five it was “summoning” the Chinese envoy, the Xi and the GCC leaders signed a statement
decades old. Iranian foreign ministry said the ambassador that urged “bilateral negotiations in accordance
“had a visit” with a foreign ministry official, dur- with the rules of international law, and to resolve
WHAT NEXT: ing which Tehran’s “strong dissatisfaction” was this issue [over the sovereignty of the islands] in
Iran insists it will not conveyed. accordance with international legitimacy”. In
discuss the islands’ The controversy blew up as Chinese Pres- signing the statement, China crossed a red line
status, but wants to avoid ident Xi Jinping visited Iran’s arch-rival Saudi in Iran’s eyes as Tehran’s standpoint remains that
open criticism of Beijing. Arabia on December 9. He also met leaders of it will not countenance any talks on the islands.
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Ab-
Tehran was observing the visit like a hawk as Iran dollahian asserted in a tweet that the islands were
and Saudi Arabia are competitors when it comes “inseparable parts of Iran’s pure soil”. But he ran
to the provision of huge volumes of crude oil to into social media criticism for not naming China
Beijing. in his observations and for only writing in Farsi,
The bone of contention unearthed by the Chi- whereas in the past he has tweeted both in Farsi
nese-Arab joint statement is the ownership of the and in Chinese in support of China’s territorial
islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu integrity.
Musa, governed by Iran since 1971 but claimed China and Iran last year signed a 25-year

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 13•December•2022