By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The Iranian president who is on a state visit to Qatar for attending the Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) noted the inadequate relations amongst the littoral states and called for enhancement of ties in all fields.
Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi in his joint press conference with Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Aal-e Thani, in Doha on Monday, after holding fruitful talks with his host, said:
“The level of current cooperation among regional states is not commensurate with the huge capacities available and the Islamic Republic of Iran seeks to help strengthen and promote regional relations within the framework of its policy to boost ties with neighbours.”
He added: “Iran seeks a change in regional relations to boost interaction, cooperation and convergence”, noting “The Islamic Republic of Iran has proved that it always stands by the interests of independent countries and nations.”
This is not a new stance by Tehran, which ever since the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 has stressed Islamic unity and regional solidarity, and time and again has offered to share its spectacular achievements in all fields with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Unfortunately, because of US meddling and the lack of confidence of the rulers of the littoral states in their own selves, mainly due to the fact they are hereditary and not elected by the people they govern, an air of mistrust had developed, to the detriment of peace, security and stability of the region.
The first and foremost enemy of cooperation and coordination was Saddam of the tyrannical Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad who in addition to his frequent bouts of massacre of the Iraqi people, imposed the destructive 8-year war on Iran on the orders of the US in a vain bid to create bad blood between Arabs and Iranians.
As a result, the six states on the southern shores of the strategic waterway that accounts for almost 40 percent of oil shipments to the world, set up the so-called Persian Gulf Cooperative Council (PGCC) by excluding the two major powers, (Iran and Iraq), but soon became embroiled in their own petty differences – as was evident by the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain and war they imposed on Yemen.
Soon they realized how badly they had blundered and now after sending feelers of friendship to Iran have begun to mend fences with fellow PGCC member Qatar, whom they had unsuccessfully tried to isolate for its refusal to break diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic.
Yet, Iran, due to its Islamic spirit and sense of brotherhood has always extended the olive branch to those in the region which had unnecessarily tried to adopt a hostile attitude towards it on the instigations of the Americans and the Zionists.
In line with its principled policy of regional solidarity Tehran is determined to end the sway of the CENTCOM terrorists over the region, and looks forward to sound and healthy cooperation with all states of the Persian Gulf.
An important point to note is that except for the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) that was founded in the 1970s and includes all 8 Persian Gulf states – Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman – there is no other body binding these littoral states together.
Thus, it is time to bury the hatchet and make up for the lost time by getting together to form a regional body and keep out all outsiders, especially the US and Israel, in the interests of peace, security and stability of the Persian Gulf.
The potential for cooperation is vast and the moment these countries decide to promote ties in all fields, it will be beneficial for the whole region in view of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses all that the other countries require.