TEHRAN -- Iranian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Hamid-Reza Asefi vehemently dismissed speculations by certain foreign media outlets that Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has had talks with his UAE counterpart about the three Iranian islands over which UAE has a claim of ownership.

Asefi called such speculations an “utter fabrication” and said that there has been no public or private negotiation about the islands.

The UAE claims ownership over the Iranian islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf. Iran has announced that the misunderstanding will be removed through mutual talks.

“The most important point that Iran and Emirates agreed upon in this visit was that the unique potentials for cooperation and the two countries’ common interests are so important that some issues and minor differences of opinion can be solved through negotiations at the appropriate time,” Asefi told the Mehr News Agency.

Claiming unnamed sources the London-based newspaper As-Sharq Al-Awsat said on Monday that Iran proposed new plans for settling differences over Abud Musa island during Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Dhabi.