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Iran’s Good Neighbourly Policy Makes Persian Gulf Secure From Foreign Meddling

Date: 10 August 2019 - 22:05

News ID: ۶۹۱۹۶

By:Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

According to the holy Qur’an and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), neighbours have rights and privileges that ought to be respected. If God Almighty in ayah 36 of Surah an-Nisa commands us to be good "to the near neighbour and the distant neighbour”, the Prophet says: "A person who sleeps contentedly while a neighbour sleeps hungry is not from me”.
Iran, whose system of government is based on the dynamic teachings of Islam, has since the victory of the Islamic Revolution called for regional solidarity and followed the policy of good neighbourliness even if some of its neighbours, at the instigation of outside powers, have wronged it, such as Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Iraq, who bombed city centres and gassed to death civilians.
The Islamic Republic never retaliated in like manner during the 8-year war that the US had imposed through the Baghdad dictator, and used to bomb only military and industrial installations in Iraq, and that too after issuing calls for evacuation of those sites by the nearby civilians.
In addition, Iran provided asylum to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis (as well as millions of Afghans), and in the spirit of good neighbourliness has continued to help them and their elected government – during the American occupation, and during the takfiri bid to take over the country, for which the Iraqis are grateful.
This same neighbourly consideration made the Islamic Republic help Lebanon struggle free of Zionist occupation of its southern parts and then thwarted the Israeli bid to destroy the Lebanese people during the 33-day war.
It was good neighbourliness by Iran when it immediately responded to the requests for help by the legal and legitimate government of Syria while some nieghbours unfortunately colluded with the US and the illegal Zionist regime to try to destroy the country through the macabrely murderous takfiri terrorists.
The Islamic Republic’s unflinching support to the Palestinian cause and mobilization of all efforts to liberate Islam’s former qibla, Bayt al-Moqaddas, is another vivid example of good neighbourliness by Tehran.
There are numerous instances of firm support of Iran to both near and far neighbours, including non-Muslims, whether in times of natural disasters or whether in standing up against tyranny, and these include the people of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Yemen, Egypt, and Kuwait – in the last named Iranian experts capped scores of flaming oil wells set ablaze by the retreating Ba’thist forces in the aftermath of their abortive occupation of 1990-91.
As the West knows, but never admits, Iran has lived up even to the quote of the French Catholic priest, and writer, Michel Quoist, on the importance of neighbours and the respect towards them – which neither Christian Europe nor the Evangelist US shows:
"Someone who loves a neighbor allows him to be as he is, as he was, and as he will be”.
Of course, at times, some misunderstandings might crop up, either by mistake or intentionally by those trying to fish in troubled waters and misuse the situation between the neighbours, while they have no right to intrude in our region from the other side of the world.
Thus, it is incumbent upon the one who understands the situation, thinks rationally, and shows his sincerity to the others, to promote the spirit of good neighbourliness.
This is the reason Iranian Defence Minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami in separate telephone conversations with his counterparts of the neighbouring Persian Gulf states of Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, discussed regional solidarity and noted that the United States of America is the main factor behind insecurity in the region.
He added, "We are of the opinion that all regional countries are entitled to security. We denounce insecurity in any single one of these countries or [its use] against one of them as unacceptable.”
Iran has always argued that the presence of outsiders in the Persian Gulf has made this region insecure. Iran opposes any foreign meddling to the region a ground for extra-territorial powers to prey upon.
In other words, the security of the region must be provided by regional countries which ought to enter into constructive talks. Iran also insists that the presence of outside forces in the Persian Gulf, under any name or any pretext, will not only fail to help reinforce the region’s security, but will prepare the grounds for tension and crisis in this sensitive region.
It is heartening to note that Kuwait’s Defence Minister Sheikh Nasser bin Sabah al-Ahmad Aal-e Sabah said his country favored relations with the Islamic Republic, adding that Kuwait "respects Iran’s determining and influential position in preserving regional peace and stability.”
Qatari Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah said Doha has no doubt that regional security has to be ensured by the countries lying on both sides of the Persian Gulf, and described Iran as an important country when it comes to providing security for the strategic waterway.
Oman’s Defence Minister Badr bin Saud bin Harib al-Bu Saidi, also praised Iran’s efforts to secure the region, and called for "close coordination and cooperation” between regional countries, especially their naval forces, towards ensuring security in the Strait of Hormuz.
All this means, the Islamic Republic is determined to deter the US, Britain and other predatory powers from encroaching upon the Persian Gulf region, and in the interests of good neighbourliness for the security of all regional states, has issued a no nonsense warning to the illegal Zionist regime that any bid by its naval or other forces to intrude in the region will be met with a decisive and destructive response.