MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Normalization of relations between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council will contribute to strengthening security in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the State Television and Radio Corporation of Iran.
"Of course, any cooperation that strengthens the defense capabilities of the participants in the relevant processes and their combat readiness, I believe, is a significant, important contribution to strengthening peace and creating a situation where any aggressor will be reluctant to try to implement their aggressive plans," Lavrov said.
"In this regard, there have been many initiatives in the past, including declaring the Middle East and North Africa a nuclear-weapon-free zone. We know how our Western colleagues did not contribute much to this process developing positively. There is a promising format that will help strengthen security in the region. I am referring to the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Cooperation Council (GCC), your six neighbors in the Persian Gulf.
"We also hope in every possible way that the normalization of relations between you and these Arab monarchies, especially with Saudi Arabia, will allow us to promote various formats for strengthening security. Russia has been advocating for a conference that would be devoted to developing a concept of security in the Gulf region with the participation of the coastal countries and those states that are neighboring you, as well as your Arab colleagues for a couple of decades." According to Lavrov, this initiative is becoming more and more relevant, especially when Iran is tried to discriminate against in terms of the Iranian nuclear program, trying to deprive Iran of its legitimate rights.
"It is very important that, in our assessment, your Arab neighbors do not support attempts to increase pressure on the Islamic Republic. Military-technical cooperation is one of the fundamental, main foundations for strengthening security and trends towards strengthening it," Lavrov said. "Unfortunately, all agreements on security and on maintaining the level of armaments were born after the parties became convinced of the futility of military methods of conflict resolution. Nuclear deterrence is based on the same principle - the principle of mutual deterrence.".