Expansion Of Ties With PGCC States, Iranˈs Decisive Policy: President

Tehran, Feb 25, IRNA -- All-out development of relations with the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council member states is decisive part of Iranˈs foreign policy, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday. He made the remarks in an introductory meeting of High Persian Gulf Council on Sunday. Iranian ambassadors to the Persian Gulf states, governors general of Persian Gulf neighboring provinces as well as members of related committees attended the meeting. ˈDivision among Persian Gulf littoral states is in the interest of enemies of the regional countries and paves the path for them to enter the region,ˈ President Ahmadinejad said. The president added that any movement which can help boost ties between the regional countries should be welcomed. ˈPersian Gulf has a determining role in the regional and international equations; Persian Gulf security is very important to Iran and Tehran can help boost security in this region with the participation of its littoral states,ˈ President Ahmadinejad added. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in his speech at the meeting, underlined the importance of development of ties with the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council in all fields and in particular in the field of economy. ˈAny kind of instability and insecurity in the region will harm all regional countries; Iran is committed to expand relations with the PGCC countries based on the mutual respect and non-interference policy,ˈ Salehi said. The FM added that Persian Gulf security should be provided by the regional states through a framework of collective cooperation. Salehi pointed to the enemiesˈ conspiracies in a bid to create rift among regional countries and asked neighboring provincesˈ local officials to do their best to activate economic collaboration between Iran and PGCC countries. On December 3, 2007, President Ahmadinejad attended the 28th PGCC summit in Doha, Qatar in which he submitted 12 proposals meant to ˈreinforce brotherly tiesˈ and ˈpromote cooperationˈ among Persian Gulf littoral states and Iran. Established in 1981, the PGCC was originally conceived as a way for conservative Arab Persian Gulf states to avoid involvement in the Iran-Iraq War, which had begun the previous year and went on until 1988. The PGCCˈs most significant action in recent years has been to give the fig leaf of respectability to Saudi-UAE armed intervention in Bahrain during the uprising in March 2011. The council has done little in the way of institutional development, however. At last yearsˈ summit in Riyadh, King Abdullah proposed a ˈ(Persian) Gulf Unionˈ that would bring member-states into a confederation, but there is nothing to show for it./end