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BRITISH EMBASSY,TEHRAN.29 January, 1969
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The Persian Gulf: Abu Musa
Though Bahrain is much more important, and though theTunbs as well as Bahrain have engendered more heat hitherto,we have always felt that Abu Musa would probably prove themost intractable residual Irano-Arab problem arising out ofour departure from the Gulf. One or two things we haveheard lately tend to bear this theory out.
2. Afshar said as much to the Ambassador on 18 January.When they were talking about Bahrain he switched and commentedthat he was much more worried about Abu Musa, since "Irancould not lose everything". The Ambassador made the standardreply. Afshar admitted that our position on Abu Musa hadbeen clear and consistent all along, but he evidently did notfind the thought comforting.
More recently Zahedi sounded off on the subject of AbuMusa to Sir Tufton Beamish. M.P. who knows him well and ishere on a private visit. Zahedi did so in emphatic terms.showing himself restrained by comparison on Bahrain (thoughhe made it clear that on Bahrain he himself is a hard-liner).
4. Again, last night, after a rather noisy dinner atZahedi's house, Afshar, out of earshot of the other guests,talked at some length to the Ambassador about his worriesover Abu Musa, which he said was likely to cause much moretrouble than Bahrain since all were agreed on the ultimateobjective in the latter case. Afshar said that he did notsee how any Iranian Government could "just close the book"on Abu Musa, given Iran's long-standing claim to it. Inaddition the island had a population of about 600, many ofthem recently arrived. The Ambassador argued that in hisview hardly any Iranians had ever heard of Abu Musa (Afshardid not deny this) and were unlikely to care one bit if theIranian Government decided to abandon their claim. UnlikeBahrain, the inhabitants were all Arabs (Afshar agreed) andthe size of the population varied seasonally. On theassumption that a satisfactory settlement could be reachedover the Tunbs, the Ambassador voiced his personal view thatthe best way for the Iranians to drop their claim to Abu Musawould be in the context of an overall "small island" settlement that would include the median line, the Tunbs and Sirri.The Ambassador told Afshar that the Arab world would nottolerate the surrender to Iran of all the islands, apart fromBahrain, in dispute. H.M.G. had never at any time envisagedAbu Musa becoming Iranian and he himself had made this pointmore than once to the Shah in recent months.
in the
the Iraniador voiceanent could be the
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A. A. Acland, Esq.Near Eastern Department.
F.C.o.
B.U. no Ms. Ryen
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