TEHRAN - Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Tehran’s ambassador to Pakistan, said on Thursday that Iran seeks security for all and will remain harbinger of regional peace, security and development.

“Obviously, steps by all neighbors, especially Pakistan, are very important on this path,” he said during a speech at a security conference in Islamabad.

He also said that the regional countries must abandon the illusion of “buying security” from extra-regional countries, urging them to cherish the path of regional cooperation.

Hosseini also pointed to Iran’s Hormuz peace initiative to help peace and stability in the region.

At the United Nations summit in New York in late September 2019, Iran officially unveiled the proposal for regional security.

“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,” President Hassan Rouhani told the UN delegates.

Foreign Minister Zarif has invited all regional states to join the peace plan for securing the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

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

In a post on his Twitter account on October 15, 2019, Zarif renewed Iran’s call to all countries bordering the Persian Gulf to join Tehran to “forge a blueprint for peace, security, stability, and prosperity” in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic artery linking the Middle East crude producers to key markets in the Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.

Separating Iran and Oman, it connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is only two miles wide in either direction.

NA/PA