(ANSAmed) - DOHA, 25 APRIL - The Joint Peninsula Shield, the
joint intervention force of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
organised a military drill on April 29th and 30th. The news were
reported by the Gulf's press. The drill is aimed at checking the
quickness of response and the level of coordination among navy,
ground and air forces in the deployment of special missions
along the coast and the islands in the sea territory of Member
States, that is Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
The military exercise was announced after the GCC Member States took a clear position on Iran last week, during the special summit summoned in Doha upon request of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the issue of the islands disputed by both Iran and the UAE after an official visit of Iran's president Mahmud Ahmadinejad to the island of Abu Musa.
The Emirates consider the initiative of Iran's head of state a violation of their own sovereignty and the GCC countries expressed their full support to the UAE. The island of Abu Musa has a surface of approximately 12,000 square kilometres and count approximately 2,000 inhabitants. The island is considered a strategic place not only for its fresh water springs and its potential hydrocarbon reserves, but also due to its position in the Hormuz Strait, transited by roughly 40% of the world's oil tanker shipments. (ANSAmed).
The military exercise was announced after the GCC Member States took a clear position on Iran last week, during the special summit summoned in Doha upon request of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the issue of the islands disputed by both Iran and the UAE after an official visit of Iran's president Mahmud Ahmadinejad to the island of Abu Musa.
The Emirates consider the initiative of Iran's head of state a violation of their own sovereignty and the GCC countries expressed their full support to the UAE. The island of Abu Musa has a surface of approximately 12,000 square kilometres and count approximately 2,000 inhabitants. The island is considered a strategic place not only for its fresh water springs and its potential hydrocarbon reserves, but also due to its position in the Hormuz Strait, transited by roughly 40% of the world's oil tanker shipments. (ANSAmed).
