Iran Summons Russian Envoy Over Statement on Persian Gulf Disputed Islands

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Iran summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires after Moscow and Arab countries released a joint statement earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, state media reported Sunday.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the Russian envoy was summoned on Saturday and handed a note to deliver to Moscow in which Tehran protested the statement the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum issued in Morocco that called for a peaceful solution to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the islands.

Earlier Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Russian counterpart over the phone that “respecting countries’ sovereignty and integrity is among basic principles in the ties between nations,” IRNA said in a separate report.

This marked the second time this year that Iran has called for a Russian envoy in protest over comments on the disputed islands. Tehran summoned the Russian ambassador in July over a similar statement.