Are the UAE and Iran close to a deal on Abu Musa?

On 15 January, a report emerged that the UAE and Iran had finalised a deal on the disputed islands of Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, which lie in the highly sensitive Strait of Hormuz, and that an agreement on Abu Musa was nearing completion. Published online by DefenseNews, the report quoted a “high-level UAE government source”, and gave extensive details about a deal apparently finalised on 24 December, when Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) visited Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said of Oman.