Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb (, Tonb-e Bozorg, , Tunb el-Kubra) are two small islands in the eastern Persian Gulf, close to the Strait of Hormuz. They lie at and , some from each other and south of the Iranian island of Qeshm. The islands are administered by Iran as part of its Hormozgan province, however their sovereignty is disputed by the United Arab Emirates, which claims them as part of the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah.

Greater Tunb has a surface area of . It is known for its red soil. There are conflicting descriptions about its population: While some sources state there are between a few dozen and a few hundred inhabitants, others describe the island as having no native civilian population.

There is reported to be an Iranian garrison and naval station, an aircraft runway, a fish storage facility and a red-soil mine. Lesser Tunb has a surface of and is uninhabited with the exception of a small airfield, harbour, and entrenched Iranian military unit.

Toponymy

thumb|250px|A photograph of the Greater Tunb

The toponymy of Tonb is in all likelihood of Persian origin. In the local Persian dialect(s) of southern Persia, the noun Tomb and Tonb, with its diminutive Tonbu or Tombu, as it applied to Lesser Tonb (Nāmiuh or Nābiuh Tonb), means "hill" or "low elevation", cfr. Medieval Latin tumba and Ancient Greek tymbos, with the same meaning, roots for "tomb".

Etymologically, the word TNB (ط-ن-ب) is also a proper Arabic word, which means to anchor, according to the Medieval Arab linguist Ibn Fares.

History

Reference to Great Tonb as an Iranian island is found in Ibn Balkhi's 12th-century Farsnameh and Hamdallah Mustawfi Kazvini's 14th-century Nuzhat al-Qulub. The Tonbs were dominions of the Kings of Hormuz from 1330 or so until Hormuz's capitulation to the Portuguese in 1507.

The Iranians were instructed not to open fire, and the first shots came from the Arab resistance which killed four Iranian marines and injured one. In his book Territorial foundations of the Gulf states, Schofield states that according to some sources, the Arab civilian population of Greater Tunb of about 120 was then deported to Ras Al Khaimah, but according to other sources the island had already been uninhabited for some time.

Present situation

thumb|A mosque on the island of Greater Tunb

Shortly after the Iranian seizure, there would be a failed coup in Sharjah led by the Arab nationalist former Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi in part due to the UAE's response to the seizure.

In the following decades, the issue remained a source of friction between the Arab states and Iran. The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf repeatedly declared support for the UAE claims. Bilateral talks between the UAE and Iran in 1992 failed. The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice, but Iran refuses to do so. Tehran says the islands always belonged to it as it had never renounced possession of the islands, and that they are an integral part of Iranian territory.

The emirate of Ras al-Khaimah argue that the islands were under the control of Qasimi sheikhs, a branch of which administered the port of Bandar Lengeh for the Persian government from ca. 1789 to 1887, The UAE refers to the islands as "occupied".

These two islands are among the territories under the control and government of Iran. The Iranian government has established naval military bases on these islands to control the Strait of Hormuz. Along with nearby Abu Musa, it has been considered a possible US military objective in the 2026 Iran war.

Notes

References

  • Haghshenas, Seyyed Ali, Iran Historical Sovereignty over the Tunbs and BuMusa Islands. Published in 2010, Tehran, Iran.