Doha: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, on Tuesday attended the GCC Foreign Ministers' joint ministerial meeting with foreign ministers of Jordan and Morocco under the chairmanship of Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Mohammad Al Attiyah.
Also present were the Jordanian Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation, and Dr Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, GCC Secretary General.
In the final statement, issued after the meeting through the UAE's official news agency WAM, the ministers reiterated support to UAE's rightful sovereignty over the three islands of Abu Musa, and Greater and Lesser Tunbs, including their regional waters, airspace, continental shelf and their exclusive economic zone, as integral parts of the UAE.
They further affirmed that any measures taken by Iran in the three islands can never alter the historic and legal facts that prove the islands are part and parcel of the UAE territories.
The ministers urged Iran to heed UAE's call for resolving the issue either through direct talks or referral of the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ministers also welcomed the successful parliamentary and municipal elections in Bahrain and the progress made under the comprehensive reform programme, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
They also stressed the need to strengthen the international alliance to defeat Dae'sh and other armed terrorist groups and to confront the threat posed by the foreign fighters in such groups.
The ministers also expressed the firm stand towards regional issues, including the Palestinian issue.
They condemned Israel continuous occupation of the Arab territories, ongoing settlement and collective punishment to Palestinians in the occupied territories.
