ABSTRACT
The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and other momentous events around the same time in the region introduced a new chapter in the history of the Persian Gulf, thus affecting to some extent the evolution of the issue of the three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. This chapter is twofold: to review the overall situation in the Persian Gulf after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, in general, and the issue of the three islands, in particular, and to describe Iraq’s attempts to revive the three islands issue and the reasons that these attempts ended in total failure. In the transitional period, the United States tried but failed to impose its hegemony over the Persian Gulf. Thus, in this period the area continued to be mainly autonomous and free from the decisive influence of a global power.
