In a post on his X account on Saturday, Baqaei described the UAE’s claim to Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb islands as unfounded, stressing that their historical ties to Iran date back thousands of years, long before the establishment of the UAE in 1971. He also questioned why Canada, whose own history has been marked by efforts to defend its territorial integrity against US ambitions, would endorse an illegitimate territorial claim.

“The UAE was established in 1971. Yet, despite the overwhelming historical record, geographical facts and documented evidence concerning Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, it lays claim to these IRANIAN islands whose history of being part of IRAN stretches back many millennia before the establishment of the federation itself,” he wrote.

“Remarkably, Canada's Prime Minister has chosen to echo this absurd claim! Canada, of all countries, must understand the importance of territorial integrity and national sovereignty as its own history is marked by the American invasion during the War of 1812, the Montreal Annexation Manifesto of 1849, and, more recently, Donald Trump's repeated threats to turn Canada into the 51st state of the United States,” Baqaei added.

“A country that has spent more than two centuries defending its territorial integrity against the ambitions of its southern neighbour - how can it take sides in a fabricated dispute and endorse an unfounded territorial claim that amounts to dangerous adventurism?” the spokesman reminded Canada.

“Is territorial integrity and respect for historical and legal facts a fundamental principle for Canada, or does it matter only when Canada's own sovereignty is at stake? Does Canada not realize that, in doing so, it is effectively sawing off the very branch on which it sits?” he stated.