Middle East Focus: Tensions Escalate around Strait of Hormuz, War Games and Harsh Words………………

Arabia Deserta

Tensions Escalate around Strait of Hormuz, War Games and Harsh Words………………

“On Tuesday, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan likened Iran's occupation of the three strategic islands in the southern Gulf to Israel's occupation of Arab territories. Iran, under the rule of the Western-backed shah, occupied the islands in 1971, as Britain granted independence to its Gulf protectorates and withdrew its forces. The Islamic Republic took possession of the Lesser and Greater Tunbs, while a third, Abu Musa -- the only inhabited island -- was placed under joint administration in a deal with Sharjah, now part of the UAE. But the UAE says the Iranians have since taken control of all access to the strategic island and installed an airport and military base on Abu Musa. The UAE, facing Iran across the Gulf waterway vital for world oil supplies, has a large Iranian expatriate community and is a major conduit for Tehran's trade with the outside world…………..” M E Online, a site connected to the UAE

On the other hand, an Iraqi news website that seems sympathetic to the Iranians, speculated that the new unusually harsh words from the UAE foreign minister are part of a broad new Western offensive. The Nahrainnet site speculates that the new UAE language was instigated as part of a new US- Israeli campaign to increase pressure on Iran, with the aim of increasing tensions in the Gulf region ( and perhaps distracting from lingering the Israeli-Palestinian issue). The site notes that this new stance by the UAE potentate coincides with escalated diplomatic, political, and media campaigns against Iran…….
This new development also coincides with the start of a vast Iranian exercises in involving the navy, the army, and the air force in the area of the Strait of Hormuz.
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