Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the joint statement by the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council is provocative.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the joint statement by the US Secretary of State and the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council as interventionist, irresponsible, and provocative.
In a statement, the ministry called the US’s claim of a lasting commitment to the security of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states rhetoric and a distortion of reality, declaring that it is now more evident than ever that the US military presence in the region is merely a burden on the nations of the region and a cause of insecurity and division.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also urged the countries of the region to reconsider their views, stating that it is expected that the countries whose territories and facilities were used by the US and Israel for attacks against Iran during the recent imposed war reconsider their views.
The statement further called on the countries of the region to join the Islamic Republic of Iran in realizing the initiative for a nuclear-weapon-free West Asia rather than aligning with the US in perceiving Iran’s peaceful nuclear program as a threat, and to compel the US to cease obstructing the implementation of this initiative.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also claimed that when the US has trapped the member countries of the Cooperation Council in a dangerous and endless arms race and turned West Asia into a massive arms depot, talking about Iran’s missile and drone programs is irresponsible and entirely condemnable.
In conclusion, the ministry expressed regret over the Gulf Cooperation Council’s alignment with the US and Israel, emphasizing that the Strait of Hormuz lies within the territorial waters of the two coastal states, Iran and Oman, and what has been agreed upon in the fifth clause of the memorandum of understanding will be the basis for action in relation to the management of navigation in this strait.