evidence: Barely four kilometres in diameter, if it could be overlain onto Abu Dhabi the island of Abu Musa would fit comfortably between the Corniche and 15th Street. Yet over the past 37 years this remote outpost of the UAE, just 60 kilometres off the coast of Umm al Qaiwain, has attained a significance out of all proportion to its size, thanks to its symbolic location as a potential cork in the bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit of 20 per cent of the world's oil. [...] According to Globalsecurity.org, by March 1995 the island was garrisoned by troops of the IRGC, which remains the occupying force. That same month, William Perry, the US Secretary of Defence, said Iran had installed Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missiles on the island. If true, the missiles, with a range of some 75 kilometres, pose a threat to all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz: Abu Musa is 70km from the Iranian mainland and 60km from the UAE shoreline. [...] In this light, Abu Musa is more than just a few square kilometres of land that should rightfully be returned to the UAE. It is a symbol of the growing tensions that threaten the stability of the Gulf and a reminder of the risks to the region of precipitous action, by or against Iran. hnaylor@thenational.ae jgornall@thenational.ae