Senior Iranian official Ali Shamkhani cautioned Persian Gulf neighbors after the GCC renewed claims over three Iranian islands and backed Saudi and Kuwaiti ownership of the Arash/Durra gas field, framing the dispute as a test of regional red lines amid post-war tensions.
Shamkhani, a former secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and now the Supreme Leader’s representative to Iran’s Defense Council, called the GCC stance unconstructive in a post on X.
He wrote: “The GCC claims about the Iranian islands and the Arash field in the middle of US and Israeli hostility are unconstructive.”
He added that Iran “showed restraint” during the recent 12-day conflict with Israel despite “some backing for the aggression,” and said: “Iran’s power in the Persian Gulf should not be misread; the role of neighbors is to create security, not to test the red lines of the Iranian nation.”
GCC communiqués regularly reprise two Iran-related disputes: sovereignty over the three islands at the Strait of Hormuz (Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb), and more recently the offshore Arash/Durra gas field claimed by Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Iran administers the islands and rejects any third-party arbitration, citing sovereignty dating to 1971.
After most GCC ministerials, summits, or joint meetings with partners (EU, China, etc.), the closing statement typically “supports UAE efforts” on the islands and urges peaceful settlement or ICJ referral, alongside formulaic lines on Iran’s nuclear program and missiles.
The pattern is cyclical: after each communiqué, Iran rejects the islands language as a sovereignty red line and often summons ambassadors or issues warnings.
Tehran did so following the October EU-GCC meeting, and has also bristled when partners like China echoed the “peaceful settlement” formula, summoning Beijing’s envoy in 2024.
Arash/Durra has become the newer staple in GCC texts, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia asserting joint ownership and Iran maintaining overlapping claims.
