evidence: The UAE and Iran remain at odds over Iranian control of the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. That said, the UAE and Iran remain at odds over Iranian control of three small islands (Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs) off the UAE coast that were seized by the Shah of Iran in 1971 as the United Kingdom was withdrawing from the Gulf. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Republic staunchly maintained that the islands were Iranian territory, even enhancing its military presence and conducting military drills there. Although the UAE has bolstered its military capabilities in recent decades (former Secretary of Defense James Mattis referred to it as "Little Sparta" in 2011 when he was CENTCOM Commander), it clearly does not want a military confrontation with its much larger neighbor across the Gulf. [...] The UAE fears that attacks on its territory would adversely affect its massive economic development projects.