TEHRAN - Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy, has put forth the idea of forming a security alliance in the Persian Gulf that would include all the countries of the region. 

He suggested that eight littoral states of the Persian Gulf should form a naval alliance to ensure regional security without the presence of outsiders.

In comments at a televised program on Sunday, Tangsiri said the Persian Gulf countries are capable of ensuring regional security through mutual cooperation within the framework of an 8-nation alliance, according to Tasnim News. 

He added that the naval alliance would help the regional people live in peace, reminding the neighboring states that the outsiders provoke Iranophobia to justify their illegitimate presence in the region.

The commander warned that the foreign military forces are in the region with the purpose of selling arms and plundering the oil resources.

In June, Shahram Irani, the chief commander of the Iranian Army’s Navy, dropped a bombshell that jolted the U.S. into reiterating its presence in the Persian Gulf. Irani said a maritime coalition in the north Indian Ocean will be established with the participation of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan, and India.

“Today, the countries of the region have reached the point [where they believe] that if there is to be security in the region, it can be done and established through synergy and cooperation,” he said, adding that new coalitions are taking shape in the region and beyond in this regard. 

Irani continued, “Soon we will witness that our region will be free from any unjustified force and the people of the region will be dominant in their security field using their soldiers.”

The commander said Iran had already launched joint regional action with Oman. Saudi Arabia has entered this action, he noted. “The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, and India are also included,” Admiral Irani stated. 

He pointed out, “Almost all the countries of the north Indian Ocean area have come to believe that they should stand by the Islamic Republic of Iran and jointly establish security with significant synergy.”

The U.S. was quick to dismiss the Iranian initiative. It described the Iranian proposed maritime coalition as defying reason. “It defies reason that Iran, the number one cause of regional instability, claims it wants to form a naval security alliance to protect the very waters it threatens,” U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces spokesperson Cmdr. Tim Hawkins said, according to Breaking Defense.