Foreign Forces Only Create Insecurity in Persian Gulf: Iran’s Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is on an official visit to Qatar, deplored a recent push by the US to form a maritime coalition in the Persian Gulf and said foreign forces only create insecurity in the region.
Speaking at a meeting with his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in Doha, Zarif said the responsibility of ensuring the Persian Gulf’s security lies with countries in the region, not foreign forces.
The top diplomat emphasized that Iran has a responsibility for maintaining peace and stability in the region.
He also said foreign military coalitions have already failed in the region, adding that “alien forces” are only creating insecurity in the region.
Zarif further said Tehran and Doha’s ties are growing in all areas and stressed the need for consultations between the two sides on regional developments.
Qatar's foreign minister, for his part, hailed the special relations between his country and Iran, emphasizing the two neighbors' role in peace and stability in the region.
In similar remarks on Saturday, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, a high-ranking Iranian commander and former Army Ground Force chief, highlighted some major countries’ refusal to join the US-led military coalition in the Persian Gulf, saying the alliance has failed even before its formation.
Some major countries, including Germany, Spain, and Japan, have said they will not participate in the US-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz.
The developments come against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US after the Islamic Republic shot down an advanced US spy drone over its territorial waters.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on June 20 that a US spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan.
The intruding drone was reportedly shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.
Later on the same day, US President Donald Trump said he had called off a retaliatory attack on a number of targets in Iran and said that he was ready to speak with Iranian leaders and come to an understanding that would allow the country to improve its economic prospects. “What I’d like to see with Iran, I’d like to see them call me.”
“I look forward to the day where we can actually help Iran. We're not looking to hurt Iran,” Trump added.
However, on June 24 Trump announced new sanctions against top Iranian officials, including the office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s foreign minister, and senior commanders of the IRGC.
