Iranian has set up offices on a Persian Gulf island also claimed by the United Arab Emirates, Iranian state TV said Monday.
The report quoted an Iranian marine official, Ali Taheri Motlaq, as saying Iran had set up two offices on Abu Musa Island. He said one was a marine rescue center and the other was a registration office for ships and sailors.
It is was the first time in more than a decade that Iran has reported development on the island, which has been controlled by Teheran since Britain gave it up in 1971.
In the same year, Britain also gave up land that is now the United Arab Emirates, which also claims Abu Musa Island.
The tiny island is on strategic land, at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. Up to 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the area.
