Deputy FM Criticizes Powers for Insecurity of Persian Gulf

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister said that interventions by foreign powers in the Persian Gulf have made the region insecure.

Addressing the 16th international meeting on the Persian Gulf, Manouchehr Mohammadi reminded that the Middle-East, the Persian Gulf in particular, has come to the center of attention in the world ever since the decomposition of the bipolar world.

He further pointed to the four wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, the first and the second Persian Gulf wars as well as Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon as corroborative evidence substantiating the same fact.

Reminding that the west’s industries are in desperate need of the Middle-East, specially Persian Gulf, oil, the diplomat said that the rising wave of vigilance as a result of the Islamic Revolution in Iran has made western states pay very special attention to this region.

“Big powers strive to have full domination over this region as they know very well that this is the only way to secure their legitimate and illegitimate interests,” he continued.

Meantime, the deputy Foreign Minister for Education and Research pointed out that frequent miscalculations have often made the US and other big powers face failure in dealing with the Middle-Eastern countries, stressing, “And their failures are a direct result of their lack of understanding of the popular, cultural, geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-strategic particulars of this region.”

Elsewhere, Mohammadi elaborated on his country’s policy in the face of the Persian Gulf and said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has declared a transparent policy concerning the Persian Gulf since the onset of the Islamic Revolution. As frequently stated, we believe that the security arrangement of the Persian Gulf must be decided, designed and made by the nations and governments of the littoral states.”

He underlined that intervention of foreign powers brings insecurity to the region rather than securing it.

“Any kind of crisis triggered in this region finds its roots in the presence and intervention of the alien and hegemonic forces,” the official added.

The Foreign Ministry official underscored that Tehran maintains satisfactory relations with its neighbors, specially those on the other end of the Persian Gulf, saying that his country believes that regional security, stability and peace could be restored through mutual respect, interests and cooperation by the Persian Gulf states.