Iran’s president on Sunday warned Western nations to “stay away” from the Persian Gulf and said Tehran was working with regional partners to develop a security plan for the international waterway.
āāYour presence has always been a calamity for this region and the farther you go from our region and our nations, the more security would come for our region,ā Presāident Hassan Rouhani said during a nationally televised address carried by state-run media.
Rouhani, who will unveil the security plan this week at the United Nations General Assembly, said Iran will āāextend the hand of friendship and brotherhoodā to Gulf nations and was āeven ready to forgive thešir past mistakes.ā
āāāThose who want to link āthe regionās incidents to the Islamic Republic of Iran are lying like their past lies that have been revealed,ā āhe said. āIf they are truthful and really seek security in the region, they must not send weapons, fighter jets, bombs and dangerous arms što the region.ā
āHis comments after President Trump announced on Friday āthat he would send additional troops to the Middle East and bolster air and missile dā efense systems after the attack on Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14.
The US is also part of a coalition – including Britain, Australia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – to protect the international shipping lanes in the waterway.
Iran has repeatedly denied that it was behind the bombing of the refinery and oil fields – an attack Iranian-backed Houthi insurgents who are fighting in Yemen claimed responsibility for.
The commander of Iran’s navy said the country was “at its highest possible level” and was “ready to defends [its] maritime borders.ā”ā
“In case of any miscalculation and aggression by the enemy, [the navy], along with other armed forces of the country, will give the most crushing reaction in the shortest time possible,” Read Admiral Hossein Khanzadi saidā, according to Reuters. ā
With Post wires