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Apparently they were essentially handed to Iran by the British when they withdrew from the Gulf and the Emirate of Sharjah became part of the UAE. As part of the British withdrawal, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran was allowed to assume a greater role in maintaining regional, anti-Communist stability, helped by huge military purchases from the US and UK. Some of the documents relating to this "transfer" have yet to be declassified, so more information will no doubt come to light in the future, but it appears that the Gulf Arabs were not overly concerned by this event at the time, seeing it as serving their interests by preventing the capture of the islands by pirates or nationalist revolutionaries. It also appears it was associated with an end to Iranian territorial claims over Bahrain, a matter which was settled by UN resolution.
Oh well... if Iran keeps seizing cargo ships... let's see what happens.
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