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Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb (Template:PerB, Tonb-e Bozorg and Tonb-e Kuchek; Arabic: طنب الكبرى وطنب الصغرى, Tunb al-kubra and Tunb al-sughra) are two small islands in the eastern Persian Gulf, close to the Strait of Hormuz. They are today part of Iran but are also claimed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They lie at 26°15′N 55°16′E / 26.250°N 55.267°E / 26.250; 55.267 and 26°14′N 55°08′E / 26.233°N 55.133°E / 26.233; 55.133 respectively, at a distance of some twelve kilometers from each other and some twenty kilometers south of the Iranian island of Qeshm. Together with the Abu Musa island, the Tunb Islands are administered as part of the Iranian province Hormozgan.

Greater Tunb has a surface of 10.3 km². It is known for its distinctly red soil. There are conflicting descriptions about its population: While some sources state there are between a few dozen and a few hundred inhabitants, others describe the island as having no native civilian population. There is reported to be an Iranian garrison and naval station, a fish storage facility and a red-soil mine. Estimates of the population before the Iranian takeover in 1971 again range from some 500 in 1953 or some 450 through 120 to none.

Lesser Tunb has a surface of 2 km² and is uninhabited.

Dispute

The conflict between the Iranian and the Arab side goes back at least into the mid 19th century, when both Persia and the Qasimi shaikhdoms of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah regarded the islets as their possession. The British, who held military control over the area and acted as a protectorate power on behalf of the Arab shaikhdoms, maintained an ambivalent stance for some time, but from the early 1870s on actively promoted Ras al-Khaimah sovereignty over the islands.

During the 20th century, several attempts at negotiations were made, with various tradeoffs under consideration: according to one proposal, Iran would recognise Arab ownership of Abu Musa in return for the emirates recognising Iranian ownership of the Tunb Islands; according to others, one side would lease or sell the Tunb Islands to the other. However, no agreement was ever concluded. In 1971, shortly before the end of the British protectorate and the formation of the UAE, Iran seized semi-control of Abu Musa under an agreement of joint administration together with Sharjah, with both sides nominally upholding their separate claims. A day later, on 30 November 1971, Iran forcibly seized control of the Tunb Islands, against the resistance of the tiny Arab police force stationed there. According to some sources, the Arab civilian population of Greater Tunb was then deported, but according to others the island had already been uninhabited for some time earlier.

In the following decades, the issue remained a source of friction between the Arab states and Iran. The Gulf Co-operation Council of Arab litoral states repeatedly declared support for the UAE claims. Bilateral talks between the UAE and Iran in 1992 failed. The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice, but Iran refuses to do so.

The claims of both sides are based legally on titles of possession dating back to the 19th century. Evidence of factual ownership by either side before the 19th century is inconclusive. The UAE argue that the islands were under the control of Qasimi sheikhs throughout the 19th century, whose rights were then inherited by the UAE after 1971. Iran argues that the local Qasimi rulers during a crucial part of the 19th century where actually based on the Eastern, not Western, coast of the Gulf, and had thus become Persian subjects. Iran's claims also stand in an earlier tradition of informally claiming sovereignty over the whole of the Persian Gulf waters and islands. Iran also argues that Britain at least on one occasion in 1886 formally indicated acknowledgment of Persian sovereignty, through a map presented to the Shah by the British government.

Notes

1. Transliteration according to CIA World factbook () and Iranian government ()
2. Guive Mirfendereski,
3. Radio Free Europe,
4. Guive Mirfendereski,
5. UAE Interact
6. Al-Baharna 1978, quoted in Schofield 1994: 71
7. Schofield 1994: 38.
8. Schofield 1994: 35
9. Schofield 1994: 36.
10. References in Schofield 1994: 38
11. Heidelberger Institut für Internationale Konfliktforschung
12. Schofield 1994: 35

References

• Schofield, Richard. Borders and territoriality in the Gulf and the Arabian peninsula during the twentieth century. In: Schofield (ed.) Territorial foundations of the Gulf states. London: UCL Press, 1994. 1-77.

Further Reading

Richard Schofield (ed.), The Lower Gulf Islands (Arabian Geopolitics 2). 6 vols. Archive Editions, 1993 (ISBN 1-85207-490-6). Online abstract

• Islands of Iran
• Persian Gulf
• Disputed islands
• Politics of Iran
• Politics of the United Arab Emirates