TEHRAN - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late on Tuesday that his country has “no doubt” about Iran’s territorial integrity and fully respects this principle.

“The Russian Federation has no doubt about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and has fully respected it and will do it” in the future, Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

The telephone conversation came one day after Amir Abdollahian said Russian officials’ explanations about the three Iranian islands of Abu Mousa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf “are not enough” and that Tehran “pulls no punches” when it comes to its territorial integrity.

Amir Abdollahian said he was surprised over a clause of the joint Persian Gulf Cooperation Council- Russia statement regarding the three Iranian islands.

“Independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran has never been subject to negotiations and will never be so,” the foreign minister stated.

Noting that these islands historically belong to Iran, the foreign minister added, “Nothing should be done to harm the deep relationship between the two countries.”

The UAE, a member of the GCC, has made ownership claims over the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. The joint GCC-Russia statement called for resolving the differences over the islands through dialogue or through international arbitration.