By Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times, April 30/May 1, 2012

TEHRAN — For Iranians, whose country’s borders have shrunk in the past 200 years after wars and unfavorable deals by corrupt shahs, territorial issues are a delicate matter. So a renewed claim by the United Arab Emirates to the tiny island of Abu Musa in the Persian Gulf has touched a raw nerve.

But many here say that may just be the point.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his reactionary agenda tend to be unpopular among the urban middle classes, but he is enjoying a rare surge of support even in those inhospitable quarters in the growing dispute with Iran’s Persian Gulf neighbors — one that he touched off by making a surprise visit to the island last month, a first by an Iranian president.

Other Iranian politicians have rushed to embrace the controversy, aware of how it is playing at home [....]