TEHRAN – In an indirect reference to Saudi Arabia, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran is ready to forgive the past mistakes of its neighbors and extend the hand of friendship toward them.

He also said Iran will present at the United Nations this year an initiative for regional cooperation to ensure peace in the Strait of Hormuz, IRNA reported.

Rouhani made the remarks in Tehran during a military parade commemorating the 39th anniversary of Iraq’s war against Iran.

Iran to present ‘Hormuz peace initiative’ at UN
 
Iran and regional countries can establish security in the Sea of Oman and Strait of Hormuz, he said. 

“This year at the United Nations, we will present to the world the Hormuz peace initiative — the gist of which is love and hope — with the slogan ‘The coalition of hope,’” Rouhani stated. 

Rouhani is scheduled to travel to New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly meeting on Monday.
Rouhani added the presence of foreign forces for the region is dangerous for the security of shipping and oil flow.

“Our path is a path of creating unity and coordination with regional countries,” the president stated, adding that those who want to attribute regional incidents to Iran are lying as they always do.

If they are truly after establishing security in the region, they must stop delivering dangerous weapons, fighters and bombs to the region, said Rouhani, referring to the United States.

“If they are truly after [establishing] security in the region, they [must] distance themselves from this region,” he added.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have soared in recent days, especially after an attack by Yemeni Armed Forces against Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, for which Washington and Riyadh have blamed Iran.

Iran has denied involvement in the attack, and a fierce war of words has been playing out between the two sides, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening that his forces were “locked and loaded”.

Last Monday, Iran officially warned U.S. officials against their claims that Iran had a role in the attacks. The warning was submitted to the Swiss ambassador to Tehran whose country represents the U.S. interests in Iran.

Iran insisted in the letter that if “any moves” takes place against the Islamic Republic, the aggressors will be faced with an immediate response and that the domain of the Iranian armed forces’ response will not be limited to the “source of threat”.

Top Iranian commanders have also firmly warned that Iran will hit back against any act of aggression.

In his Sunday remarks, President Rouhani slammed Washington’s warmongering in the Middle East, saying, “You have always been a curse and a disaster for the region,” and that the farther away the U.S. is from the region the more secure the region will become.

On the contrary, he continued, Iranian Armed Forces have brought security to the countries that they have helped.

“When they stood by the side of the people of Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon, they brought security to those lands and managed to root out savage terrorists in the region,” the president said.

He also emphasized that Iran would neither allow any violation of its borders nor would it violate those of other countries.

The current Tehran-Washington tensions were caused by the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018, which was followed by a series of increasingly hostile moves against Iran, including re-imposition of harsh sanctions and allegations of misconduct in the region.

MH/PA