TEHRAN -- Iran has summoned Iraqi ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad Majid Al-Shaikh, to Foreign Ministry to protest over Baghdad’s support for the United Arab Emirates’ ownership claims over three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf.

“The Iraqi envoy was invited to the Foreign Ministry and was notified of Iran’s protest. The Iraqi government was also asked to correct its position,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told reporters on Wednesday.
In a memorandum sent to the UAE Foreign Ministry, the Iraqi government asserted “its unconditional support to the sovereignty of UAE” over the three Iranian islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Mussa, AFP quoted the official UAE agency WAM as saying.
“It also said that Iraq supports all procedures and peaceful means UAE will adopt to reclaim the three islands, and rejects any action from Iran to bolster the occupation,” the report added.
Iran slams U.S. terrorism report as baseless
Hosseini also dismissed as “unfounded” the U.S. claims that Iran is a sponsor of terrorism.
In an annual report on April 30 the U.S. State Department claimed Iran remained the world’s “most active” state sponsor of terrorism as it tries to build regional influence and drive the U.S. from the Middle East.
It said Iran provides aid to Palestinian “terrorist” groups like Hamas, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, “Iraq-based militants,” and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
“The report has made some baseless allegations against Iran which has already been repeated many times,” Hosseini told reporters.
“The accusations against the Islamic Republic are about Iran’s political and spiritual support for the Palestinians and Lebanese against the Zionist regime’s continued aggression against the defenseless people of these countries.
“The United States regards supporting these countries’ legitimate defense as a terror act, however the U.S. strong support for the Zionist regime and its crimes leaves no doubt that the U.S. is a partner in the Zionist regime’s state terrorism,” the spokesman stated.
He slammed the State Department report as a pretext to “justify the U.S. inhumane actions in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons” and a cover up for its “numerous crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“The international community has clearly realized that the expansion of terrorism and extremism is the product of the U.S. hegemonistic policies,” he noted