TEHRAN – A senior Iranian lawmaker has said that Tehran does not negotiate over its territorial integrity, lambasting Russia for aligning itself with the United Arab Emirates in relation to Iran’s three islands in the Persian Gulf. 

The lawmaker, Ruhollah Motefaker Azad, who is a member of the Iranian parliament’s presiding board, said Russia signing off on the joint statement with the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council countries stems from their lack of knowledge of the developments. 

“Our nation is a great nation that fought for eight years to not give a single part of its soil to the enemy, and this is the steely will of a great nation, which puts its hands on its knees and stands up to achieve its goals,” Motefaker Azad said, according to Fars News. 

Underling that the joint statement is indicative of the lack of a comprehensive analysis on the part of Russia, the lawmaker said, “The territorial integrity of Iran is not negotiable and this is known by the Americans who force themselves to maintain a legal distance from Iran.”

The joint Russian-Arab statement has caused huge uproar in Iran, leading the Iranian foreign ministry to summon the Russian ambassador to Iran, Alexey Dedov. 

Alireza Enayati, head of the Foreign Ministry Persian Gulf Department, summoned Dedov to convey Iran’s dissatisfaction with the statement. 

Enayati told the Russian ambassador that the three islands belong to Iran forever and called on Russia to correct its position in this regard. The joint statement endorsed the UAE's efforts to peacefully settle the issue of the islands through dialogue or international institutions. 

The Russian ambassador underlined Moscow’s respect for Iran’s territorial integrity and said he would convey the Iranian protest to his country.

Also, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said that Russia sent explanation through diplomatic channels to Iran over the statement. But the Iranian foreign minister said the Russian explanation was “not enough”.