Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in a meeting with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, that the relationship between the two countries has been upgraded to a strategic partnership level with the signing of the free trade agreement and a commitment to invest 70 billion dollars.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the two countries called Iran's control of the three islands an "occupation" and demanded its end.
In response, Ismail Bakai, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, strongly condemned this position and called the three islands an eternal part of Iran's land.
Mehsa Mortzawi, a reporter at Iran International, reports.