Gulf Arab states are beginning two days of joint military exercises, as fears of an armed conflict with Iran keep growing.
The drills, dubbed "Islands of Loyalty," come amid an escalating territorial dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Iran over three strategic islands within the Persian Gulf.
Earlier this month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited one of several islands, Abu Musa, sparking a disagreement between Abu Dhabi and Tehran.
The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Mohammed Gargash, said his nation was “fed up†with the Iranians' “occupation†of the land.
Iran's FARS news agency on Saturday provided probably the most starkest warnings yet the dispute could induce war, quoting an unnamed military official as saying, “serious damage to the United Arab Emirates stands out as the first outcome.â€
Despite the strong rhetoric analyst David Roberts, the deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute for protection and Security Studies in Qatar, says both countries would like to bypass a significant confrontation.
"It's certainly for show, but that's absolutely to not ignore the possible prospect that something could accidentally touch off here," Roberts. "In the event you put all of those forces in a small proximity in a touch fevered atmosphere, anything could happen."
Research Director Theodore Karasic, of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, agrees.
"It only takes one little accident or incident to trigger a series of events which can ultimately result in some type of military confrontation and it's possible that the islands' issue could do this," say Karasic.
All three of the disputed islands are controlled by Iran and lie near the Strait of Hormuz, in which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supplies are shipped.
Tehran has threatened to shut the Strait in keeping with sanctions targeting its nuclear program and would likely use troops stationed on Abu Musa to take action.
Political risks analyst Andrew Bond, of the Institute of Gulf Affairs in Washington D. C., says many nations, including america, are concerned the islands confrontation will have a future impact on global oil supplies.
"There are some people within the [U.S.] administration who're nervous right away with what's going on," said Bond.
On Sunday, Iran's Majlis (legislature) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee reportedly held a gathering on Abu Musa to coincide with the Arab military drills.
The drills are being done by the Peninsula Shield Force, the joint army of the Gulf Arab states, to check the power of ground, air and naval troops to hold out missions along coasts and on islands in territorial waters.
Peninsula Shield soldiers were used to quell Bahrain's anti-government uprising last year.
The United Arab Emirates says it's willing to take the islands dispute to international arbitration if a compromise can't be reached diplomatically. Iran says its ownership if the islands seriously isn't negotiable.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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