Iran & Russia Agree To Disagree About Emirati-Disputed Gulf Islands

Their shared interests in accelerating the global systemic transition to multipolarity in general and in pioneering the North-South Transport Corridor across Central Eurasia in particular serve to reduce the impact of this disagreement on their ties.

The Islamic Republic News Agency reported over the weekend that the Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian charge d’affaires in absence of the ambassador to hand him a note protesting the joint declaration from the sixth Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum in Morocco a few days prior. The 45^th paragraph’s reference to July’s Russian-GCC joint statement acknowledging the UAE’s claim to several Iranian-controlled Gulf islands and support for a peaceful resolution of this dispute incensed Tehran.

The Russian Ambassador was also summoned back then, but it was assessed that “The Russian-Iranian Disagreement Over Some Gulf Islands Is Manageable”, which remains the case as proven by this week’s signing of a free trade agreement between Iran and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The Tehran Times also reported that Russia just extended a 6.5 billion ruble (~$70 million) line of credit to Iran. Quite clearly, these two strategic partners have agreed to disagree on this issue.

Their shared interests in accelerating the global systemic transition to multipolarity in general and in pioneering the North-South Transport Corridor across Central Eurasia in particular serve to reduce the impact of this disagreement on their ties. Objectively speaking, while Iran has the right to be angry with anyone who discusses the UAE’s claims over those islands, all that Russia ever did was support a peaceful resolution to this dispute and never once did it claim that those islands are Emirati.

Even so, acknowledging Abu Dhabi’s claims in the first place is always interpreted by Tehran as questioning the legitimacy of its on-the-ground control, but the latter’s policymakers are wise enough to realize that it’s not worth ruining relations with Moscow over their partner’s balanced position. Russia nowadays relies heavily on the UAE as its most important Arab valve from Western financial and technological sanctions pressure, which compels the Kremlin to acknowledge that this dispute exists.

Taking a partisan stance in support of Iran could lead to the Emirates pressuring its fellow Arab brethren into postponing multilateral engagements with Russia like last summer’s GCC one and this month’s Arab event until out of solidarity with their co-ethnic until the Kremlin relents. Objectively speaking, such a position would be counterproductive to Russia’s national interests, hence why nobody in Moscow ever countenanced it. Accordingly, Russia acknowledged the existence of this dispute in all joint statements.  

Likewise, Iran is in a similar situation vis-à-vis Russia’s on-the-ground control of territory that Ukraine claims as its own, the dispute over which is acknowledged by Tehran but that’s as far as it’ll go. With this in mind, Iran and Russia simply replicate the other’s position towards their respective territorial disputes, which isn’t offensive or unfriendly at all even though both wish that the other fully supported them. That’s unrealistic to expect, however, which is why they agreed to disagree about such territorial issues.