evidence: Iranian officials have for months discussed plans to increase the number of Iranian residents on the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb islands, which lie at the heart of a decades-long dispute with Iran’s southern neighbour the UAE. [...] Abu Musa is located approximately 75km (46 miles) from the Iranian mainland and, along with other islands near it, is considered crucial to the country’s maritime defence on the busy Strait of Hormuz where both oil tankers and warships pass. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian army have a presence on Abu Musa and the other islands, but there is no publicly available information on the exact extent.