Iran to present ‘Hormuz Peace Initiative’ at UN: President Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran will present at the United Nations this year an initiative for regional cooperation to ensure peace in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Rouhani made the remarks in Tehran during a military parade commemorating the 39^th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq War on Sunday.

Rouhani said Iran extended a hand of friendship and brotherhood to all its neighbors and was “even ready to ignore their past mistakes... because the enemies of Islam and the region” were seeking to take advantage of the rifts among regional states.

“The security of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman is indigenous,” President Rouhani said. “Foreign forces could cause problems and insecurity for our nation and region.”

“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,’” he said.

Rouhani said the initiative will envision the provision of security for the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz with cooperation among Iran and other regional countries.

He also warned that the presence of foreign forces endangers the region as well as maritime and energy security.

President Rouhani is scheduled to travel to New York for the annual UN General Assembly meeting on Monday.

In his Sunday speech, he also advised the countries that are seeking to blame Iran for the recent regional incidents to stop sending “dangerous weapons” to the region instead and “stay away” from it.

Rouhani also censured the American military for bringing insecurity to whatever place it set foot in, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf.

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

“When they (Iranian Armed Forces) 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. That is how we are different from the enemy,” the Iranian president said.

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

The economic war on Iran, accompanied by psychological warfare and threats of military aggression, is meant to first and foremost target the Islamic Revolution, he said, adding that the nation however has the capability to withstand arrogant powers as it did during the Iraqi-imposed war.

Forces from the Iranian Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Police, Border Guards, and Basij are participating in the parades that started on Sunday and that are being held in Tehran and 30 other provincial capitals, as well as in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

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