The New York Times
April 16, 1992, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
Iran Is Said to Expel Arabs From Gulf Island
BYLINE: By YOUSSEF M. IBRAHIM, Special to The New York Times
SECTION: Section A; Page 7; Column 1; Foreign Desk
LENGTH: 546 words
DATELINE: KUWAIT CITY, April 15
Iran has stirred concern among its neighbors in the Persian Gulf by expelling Arab
residents of an island in the middle of the gulf that they jointly administer with the United
Arab Emirates, officials in gulf nations said.
The small island, Abu Musa, is the largest of three belonging to the Emirates that were
occupied by Iranian troops in 1971. The two others, known as Large Tunb and Small
Tunb, are believed to be uninhabited. But officials from gulf nations say Abu Musa,
which lies north of Dubai, roughly midway between the two countries, has a population
of about 700 Emirate citizens.
The Iranians, despite their 20-year occupation of Abu Musa, have agreed that the island's
status is subject to eventual negotiations with the Emirates. Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti
officials said that Iran had even allowed the Emirates to share in the administration of
Abu Musa until a few days ago, when it warned all Arabs there to leave and seized
Emirates property on the island, including a desalting plant and a school.
The development received little notice until Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates
directed their official press to give it prominent attention, hinting that Iran's attempt to
normalize relations with all three countries after years of confrontation stemming from its
Islamic revolution in 1979 might be in jeopardy over the incident.
A Kuwaiti daily, Al Watan, described the Iranian move today in a front-page article, and
television news programs in all three of the Arab gulf nations led with reports on the
explusion.
The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahayan , in a
letter circulated on Tuesday, asked neighboring Oman, which retains friendly relations
with Iran, to mediate the dispute.
The tension over the island is not the only matter of contention between gulf countries
and Iran. Officials of Kuwait Airways said Teheran had refused to hand over half a dozen
planes, flown there by Iraq during the gulf war, as it had agreed several weeks ago.
The planes, European-made Airbuses, were taken from Kuwait by Iraqi during its
occupation and sent to Iran for safekeeping when the American bombing of Iraq began
the Persian Gulf war in January 1991.
Iran promised to return them to Kuwait. But now, it seems to be using the planes as a
bargaining tool in its attempt to normalize relations with Kuwait, gulf officials said. A
Kuwait Airways official said Iran is now asking $95 million in "parking fees" for the
planes before it agrees to turn them over to Kuwait.
"That's very expensive parking, especially if they say they want to improve ties," the
Kuwait official said.
Iran Silent on Expulsions
TEHERAN, Iran, April 15 (Special to The New York Times) -- Iran has kept silent about
Abu Musa island, but diplomats confirmed that Teheran had expelled Emirate officials
and suggested to the Arab residents that they apply for Iranian identity cards.
In February, President Hashemi Rafsanjani of Iran visited Abu Musa and told the
residents they could expect an improvement in their lives.
There have long been suspicions that the agreement between Iran and the Emirates
included a secret annex that gave Iran control of the island in 1992.
COUNTRY: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (99%); GULF
STATES (96%); KUWAIT (96%); IRAN (95%); IRAQ (93%); SAUDI
ARABIA (93%); OMAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%);
STATE: INDIAN OCEAN (94%); DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (79%);
CITY: TEHRAN, IRAN (90%);
GEOGRAPHIC: ;MIDDLE EAST; ABU MUSA; IRAN; UNITED ARAB EMIRATES;
PERSIAN GULF; SAUDI ARABIA; KUWAIT UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES (99%); GULF
STATES (96%); KUWAIT (96%); IRAN (95%); IRAQ (93%); SAUDI
ARABIA (93%); OMAN (79%); MIDDLE EAST (79%); INDIAN
OCEAN (94%); DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (79%); TEHRAN,
IRAN (90%);
SUBJECT: ISLANDS; BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL ISSUES; IRANINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-UNITED ARAB EMIRATES WAR &
CONFLICT (89%); DESERT STORM (89%); ISLANDS &
REEFS (78%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (76%); MUSLIMS &
ISLAM (74%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (66%); TELEVISION
PROGRAMMING (64%); RELIGION (51%);
PERSON: IBRAHIM, YOUSSEF M ABU MUSA (91%);
LOAD-DATE: April 16, 1992
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: Map of Persian Gulf showing location of Abu Musa.
Copyright 1992 The New York Times Company