TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani of Iran is set to unveil the details of his plan for security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, called the “Hormuz Peace Initiative”, at his speech at the United Nations.

The initiative, also called “HOPE”, seeks cooperation among the regional countries for maintaining security in the strategic waterway.

“In this initiative, we seek collective cooperation inside the Persian Gulf region and we want all regional countries participate,” Rouhani said just minutes before departing to New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly gathering.

He added, “All littoral states to the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are invited to take part in this initiative and the United Nations is also invited.”

The HOPE initiative comes against the backdrop of tensions in the Persian Gulf, where several tankers and commercial vessels have come under suspicious attacks by unknown parties while attempting to cross the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The United States has blamed the sabotage attacks on Iran, using them as a pretext to build a coalition that would patrol the region.

The U.S. is trying to project the mission as a bid to secure the Persian Gulf, but “the Europeans argue that Washington created the problem in the first place by trying to kill off Iran’s oil exports”, the New York Times wrote last month. 

Iran has dismissed the allegations and called the attacks false flag operations, warning regional neighbors to be vigilant in the face of plots by outsiders to destabilize the region.

Rouhani echoed that stance on Monday, saying any solution to calm tensions must come from the region and what he called a “coalition of hope.”

“We believe the solution for the region comes from inside the region and those who come from the outside can never bring peace and security,” he maintained.

Citing America’s military interventions in the region as an example, Rouhani said since entering the region in 2001, the United States has failed to bring back calm to any of the countries that it has deployed forces to.

“I hope we can roll out this plan and tell the world that Iran is looking for lasting peace in the region and is willing to” discuss it with other countries with the UN involved in the process, he said of his HOPE initiative.

NA/PA