MADRID (IRNA) -- Iran calls for a new security strategy in the Middle East and Persian Gulf based on active contribution of all regional states and exit of foreign troops from the region, announced Iranian foreign ministry official in a gathering here Thursday.

Addressing a meeting entitled "Iran's new role in the Middle East" Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mohammadi said the current situation in Iraq, and four big wars in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East during the past three decades show clearly the need for a security strategy through cooperation of all regional countries in an area free from foreign forces.

He remarked that all regional states should make their best efforts to restructure the security arrangements in the region, and Iran believes that they are fully capable to establish a new strategy via confidence building measures.

Mohammadi singled out the Iran-Saudi security pact as a positive step in expansion of regional cooperation which serves the security and economy of the whole region.

He said the current circumstances in Iraq show that the presence of foreign forces has led to nothing but increasing insecurity and misery of the local people.

He added that the presence of the U.S. troops in the Middle East has increased instability and violence and radicalism in the region.

He strongly criticized the U.S. for its support for the Zionist regime and said the Israeli ferocious military actions have only brought about further strength and resistance among people in Lebanon and Palestine.