Editing United Arab Emirates (section)

=== Independence ===
{{See also|Unification of the United Arab Emirates|Seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs|Treaty of Jeddah (1974)}}
[[File:Flag-hoisting at the Union Declaration.jpg|thumb|left|Historic photo depicting the first hoisting of the United Arab Emirates flag by the rulers of the emirates at the Union House in Dubai on 2 December 1971]]

By 1966, it had become clear that the British government could no longer afford to administer and protect the [[Trucial States]], what is now the United Arab Emirates. British [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) debated the preparedness of the [[Royal Navy]] to defend the [[sheikhdom]]s. On 24 January 1968, British Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] announced the government's decision, reaffirmed in March 1971 by Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]], to end the treaty relationships with the seven trucial sheikhdoms. Days after the announcement, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh [[Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan]], fearing vulnerability, tried to persuade the British to honour the protection treaties by offering to pay the full costs of keeping the [[British Armed Forces]] in the Emirates. The British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government rejected the offer.<ref>{{cite web |author=Gornall, Jonathan |date=2 December 2011 |url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/sun-sets-on-british-empire-as-uae-raises-its-flag#page5 |title=Sun sets on British Empire as UAE raises its flag |work=The National |location=Abu Dhabi |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629152914/http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/sun-sets-on-british-empire-as-uae-raises-its-flag#page5 |url-status=live }}</ref> After [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP [[Goronwy Roberts, Baron Goronwy-Roberts|Goronwy Roberts]] informed Sheikh Zayed of the news of British withdrawal, the nine Persian Gulf sheikhdoms attempted to form a union of Arab emirates, but by mid-1971 they were still unable to agree on terms of union even though the British treaty relationship was to expire in December of that year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/basics/history_of_the_emirates.php |title=History the United Arab Emirates (UAE)&nbsp;– TEN Guide |work=Guide.theemiratesnetwork.com |date=11 February 1972 |access-date=23 June 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608021436/http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/basics/history_of_the_emirates.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Fears of vulnerability were realised the day before independence. An Iranian destroyer group broke formation from an exercise in the lower Gulf, sailing to the [[Greater and Lesser Tunbs|Tunb islands]]. The islands were [[Seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs|taken by force]], civilians and Arab defenders alike allowed to flee. A British warship stood idle during the course of the invasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tonb |title=Tonb Islands (Greater and Lesser), two tiny islands of arguable strategic importance in the eastern Persian Gulf, south of the western tip of Qešm island |last1=Mirfendereski |first1=Guive |date=25 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704222708/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tonb |archive-date=4 July 2015 }}</ref> A destroyer group approached the island of [[Abu Musa]] as well. But there, Sheikh [[Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi]] had already negotiated with the Iranian shah, and the island was quickly leased to Iran for $3 million a year. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia laid claim to swathes of Abu Dhabi.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Krane |first1=Jim |year=2009 |title=City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism |pages=81–84}}</ref> It was not until 1974 that a [[Treaty of Jeddah (1974)|border agreement]] was signed with Saudi Arabia, formally demarcating the frontiers between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The UAE's sense of threat from Iran influenced its financial support for [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] during the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 April 2025 |title=United Arab Emirates - Gulf, Sheikhdoms, Federation {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Arab-Emirates/History |access-date=21 April 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Originally intended to be part of the proposed Federation of Arab Emirates, Bahrain became independent in August, and Qatar in September 1971. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on 1 December 1971, both emirates became fully independent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-1021.html |title=Bahrain&nbsp;– Independence |publisher=Country-data.com |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=26 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226201621/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-1021.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 2 December 1971, six of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain) agreed to enter into a union named the United Arab Emirates. [[Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah|Ras al-Khaimah]] joined later, on 10 January 1972.<ref>{{cite book|author=Smith, Simon C. |title=Britain's Revival and Fall in the Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, 1950–71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_qCeBV9IW0C&pg=PA64|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-33192-0|page=64}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-TrucialOmanorTrucialStats.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119060814/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-TrucialOmanorTrucialStats.html|archive-date=19 November 2011 |title=Trucial Oman or Trucial States&nbsp;– Origin of Trucial Oman or Trucial States &#124; Encyclopedia.com: Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com }}</ref> In February 1972, the [[Federal National Council]] (FNC) was created; it was a 40-member consultative body appointed by the seven rulers. The UAE joined the [[Arab League]] on 6 December 1971 and the [[United Nations]] on 9 December.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Now the Dust Has Settled|last=De Butts|first=Freddie|publisher=Tabb House|year=1995|isbn=978-1-873951-13-2|page=228}}</ref> It was a founding member of the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] in May 1981, with Abu Dhabi hosting the first [[GCC Summit|GCC summit]].