Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah has said that Muscat will consider supporting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s “Hormuz Peace Endeavor”.

“We haven’t seen it. If the theme … of that [plan] is based on stability, of course, we will support it,” Al-Monitor quoted him as saying on Friday in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

During his speech at the 74th UN General Assembly on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said, “Based upon the historical responsibility of my country in maintaining security, peace, stability and progress in the Persian Gulf region and Strait of Hormuz, I would like to invite all the countries directly affected by the developments in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to the ‘Coalition for Hope’, meaning Hormuz Peace Endeavor.”

Rouhani said, “The goal of the Coalition for Hope is to promote peace, stability, progress and welfare for all the residents of the Strait of Hormuz region, and to enhance mutual understanding and peaceful and friendly relations amongst them.”

“This initiative includes various venues for cooperation, such as the collective supply of energy security, freedom of navigation and free transfer of oil and other resources to and from the Strait of Hormuz and beyond.” 

Rouhani added, “The Coalition for Hope is based on important principles such as compliance with the goals and principles of the United Nations, mutual respect, equal footing, dialog and understanding, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, inviolability of international borders, the peaceful settlement of all disputes, and more importantly, the two fundamental principles of non-aggression and non-interference in the domestic affairs of each other.”

The president also said, “The presence of the United Nations is necessary for the creation of an international umbrella in support of the Coalition for Hope.”

In a tweet on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also invited all regional states to join Iran’s initiative for securing the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Zarif said the initiative entails “dialogue, confidence-building, freedom of navigation, energy security, non-aggression, and non-intervention”.

NA/PA