Inside the Emirates’ Occupied Islands

On Nov. 29, 1971, leaflets were dropped over the islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb, located at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, roughly 40 miles from the United Arab Emirates. Written in Persian, they called on residents to surrender, despite the fact that the Arab inhabitants, many from the Al Qasimi tribe that hails from Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE, did not understand a word of Persian.

Within hours, Iranian forces under the shah invaded the three islands. Six local officers on duty that day refused to surrender to the Iranians, including Salem Suhail bin Khamis, who held the Ras al-Khaimah flag in defiance and was the first to take a bullet from the Iranian forces. 

Other local officers were later killed and buried on the island. Residents were removed from their homes and placed on ships that dropped them on the Ras al-Khaimah shore, where they were left to fend for themselves. 

The swift invasion unfolded during a precarious 24 hours, literally on the eve of Britain’s withdrawal from the Trucial States, or Arab Sheikhdoms — Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain — which it had ruled over as a protectorate from 1820 until Dec. 1, 1971. 

The following 24 hours ushered in the formation of the UAE, as rulers of those seven sheikhdoms met and formed the union, which Ras al-Khaimah formally entered a few months later in February 1972.

Their aim was to resist any future political or military threat, affirming that they are stronger together than apart. They were especially wary of Iran’s imperial ambition, a threat that has never left the UAE or the Arab Gulf states. 

Ever since this union, the UAE has been appealing to the international community to recognize its sovereign right to Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb, but has mostly been ignored. The ongoing Iran war has finally put these three strategically located islands front and center on the world stage, with U.S. President Donald Trump factoring them in as he weighs options for securing the Strait of Hormuz.  

Control of these islands provides a strategic vantage over the shipping lanes that enter and exit the Gulf, making them central to any effort to secure or monitor the strait — militarily, economically and politically. Since taking over the islands, Iran has built security and military bases and used them to monitor maritime movement. 

According to U.S. officials who spoke to Axios and other media outlets, the Trump administration is looking “to take back” the islands and occupy them. What role, if any, the UAE will get to play in the “taking back” or future occupation remains unclear. Separately, New Lines learned that the UAE was part of the discussions about a possible takeover of the islands, but the Emiratis changed their mind about participating in such an operation under the current circumstances.

The significance of the islands in the UAE’s national narrative has always been central, although analysts say it has become increasingly so as the country works to build a stronger national identity, countering dual loyalty to the Islamic Republic, especially as many local tribes have historical links to Iran.

It was 20 years ago, in 2006, when I first heard of the three islands in a course titled Emirates Society while an undergraduate at United Arab Emirates University. That was almost a decade before the UAE announced an official Martyr’s Day, on Nov. 30, 2015, in remembrance of the first Emirati killed in action for the country.

A large part of that course was to teach us about the society that existed before the formation of the UAE, and before the British arrived in the 19th century, as well as the trades. In 2012, I spoke to former residents, who told me they were part of the fishing and pearl diving trades that thrived for millennia before the discovery of oil. 

Over the years, largely out of public view, Iran — by then an Islamic Republic — sent people to settle the islands and announced plans to build 110 housing units on Abu Musa to strengthen its claim. Iranian officials have also often made visits to the islands and posted news stories on their state media about them. 

Arab governments have long regarded Iran’s presence there as an illegal settlement. But only recently have voices across the region grown more determined about what they describe as Iranian occupation in the Gulf.

Among the statements that best capture this sentiment is a social media post made on March 26 by Dhahi Khalfan, the former Dubai police chief, who said that “Iran has occupied 400,000 square kilometers of Arab land, while Israel occupies 20,000.”

As 2,200 U.S. Marines arrive in the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli, and with an additional 2,500 Marines and 3,000 Army troops en route, it remains unclear what the fate of the Strait of Hormuz and the UAE’s disputed islands will be in the coming days. Meanwhile, for the region’s inhabitants, the risk is that their history will once again take a back seat to the geopolitical interests of others.