[53] Historically, whales had been abundant in the Persian gulf before commercial hunts wiped them out. Cliffs are rare on the Arabian shore of the gulf, except around the base of the Qatar Peninsula and in the extreme southeast around the Strait of Hormuz, where they form the spectacular coast of the Musandam Peninsula. [63] Other species such as the critically endangered Arabian humpback whale,[64] (also historically common in Gulf of Aden[65] and increasingly sighted in the Red Sea since 2006, including in the Gulf of Aqaba),[62] omura's whale,[66][67] minke whale, and orca also swim into the Persian gulf, while many other large species such as blue whale,[68] sei,[69] and sperm whales were once migrants into the Gulf of Oman and off the coasts in deeper waters,[70] and still migrate into the Red Sea,[71] but mainly in deeper waters of outer seas. Stripes, "K-Crossing, Kuwait, Japan based soldiers watch for camels and contraband", 3/31/17. Major cities located in the Persian Gulf region include Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Doha (Qatar), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Manama (Bahrain), Bandar Abbas (Iran), and Khobar City (Saudi Arabia). In 1971, after the British left the area Iranian forces claimed the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf between Iran and the UAE. Species that have been negatively affected by the development along the Persian Gulf's shores include the flamingo, hawksbill turtle, and booted warbler. The coastal plain widens north of Būshehr (Bushire), Iran, and passes into the broad deltaic plain of the Tigris and Euphrates and Kārūn rivers. The Rainbow Valley has mounts and soil with different colors such as yellow, white, red, green and… The mixture of all these colors makes a spectacular beautiful scenery. Persian Gulf, Arabic Baḥr Fāris, Persian Khalīj-e Fārs, also called Arabian Gulf, shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran. After that, we will continue our Hormuz tour by going to the Rainbow Valley. [27] During the 7th century the Sassanid Persian empire conquered the whole of the Persian Gulf, including southern and northern shores. In 1521, a Portuguese force led by commander Antonio Correia invaded Bahrain to take control of the wealth created by its pearl industry. Its length is some 615 miles (990 km), and its width varies from a maximum of about 210 miles (340 km) to a minimum of 35 miles (55 km) in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the high seas and the Indian Ocean. [54][55] Whales were reduced even further by illegal mass hunts by the Soviet Union and Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. Persian Gulf islands are often also historically significant, having been used in the past by colonial powers such as the Portuguese and the British in their trade or as acquisitions for their empires.[50].