"==Update==
Back in December 2012  added an unsourced history section,  and four subsequent edits. I can't see that the Adolf Stieler map should indicate the island being Iranian, and have removed it. I fail to find any sources that confirm what was written, and have hatted the section here in case anyone can source it. 

The island had been under Persian control until the early 20th century. After 1908, the UK controlled the island along with the other British-held islands in the Persian Gulf, including what is today the UAE. In the late 1960s, Britain transferred administration of the island to the British-appointed Sharjah, one of the seven sheikdoms that would later form the UAE.

Best,  Sing "