German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced on Saturday that her country's navy will not join the U.S. naval coalition in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Kramp-Karrenbauer said Berlin regards Washington's maximum pressure policy against Tehran as wrong. 

In the meantime, she said Europe's joint action in the Strait of Hormuz to protect maritime routes is a necessary measure. 

The minister added that regional stability and open maritime routes are of great importance for Germany. 

Addressing the UN General Assembly late in September 2019, President Hassan Rouhani unveiled Iran's new initiative for the establishment of peace and security in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

"The goal of the Coalition for Hope is to promote peace, stability, progress, and welfare for all the residents of the Strait of Hormuz region, and to enhance mutual understanding and peaceful and friendly relations amongst them," Rouhani told the delegates at the UN.

"This initiative includes various venues for cooperation, such as the collective supply of energy security, freedom of navigation and free transfer of oil and other resources to and from the Strait of Hormuz and beyond," he added.

"The Coalition for Hope is based on important principles such as compliance with the goals and principles of the United Nations, mutual respect, equal footing, dialog and understanding, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, inviolability of international borders, the peaceful settlement of all disputes, and more importantly, the two fundamental principles of non-aggression and non-interference in the domestic affairs of each other. The presence of the United Nations is necessary for the creation of an international umbrella in support of the Coalition for Hope," Rouhani underlined.

MJ/PA