Tehran announced this week that it was launching construction for a housing project on Abu Musa, one of three islands in the Persian Gulf that are claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Strategically located near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa islands have been under Iranian control since 1971.

Arsalan Maleki, the deputy head of Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said on Oct. 21 that the administrative process for a project aimed at building 110 residential units on Abu Musa had begun. Construction of the houses would commence soon, he noted, and local authorities in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan had been notified. Once ready, the new houses would be supplied to locals from the province or applicants from other parts of Iran. 

Noting the island’s strategic importance — notwithstanding its small size of only about 5 square miles — Maleki said that “Abu Musa island is an inseparable part of the territorial lands of the Islamic Republic of Iran and construction is allowed on Abu Musa based on the laws of our country, and housing plans on the island will be executed.” 

He said the “repetition of baseless claims by the UAE” regarding the three islands and the issuance of “joint political statements” with other parties lacked “legitimacy.”