There is a need for “genuine regional dialogue” to address rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations has said, calling on Secretary-General António Guterres “to play a role” in bringing countries to the table.
Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi, was speaking to reporters outside the Security Council chamber in New York on Monday, where a closed-door meeting was being held to discuss the deteriorating relations between the United States, and Iran, which has also ratcheted up tension with Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, and its allies.
Iran’s Permanent Representative said he had asked to take part in the meeting, but the request had been refused. He blamed the US, a Permanent Member of the 15-member body. He said that Iran wanted “neither war, nor an escalation of tension” in the region.
“The US decision today, to impose more sanctions against Iran is yet another indication of continued US hostility against the Iranian people and their leaders”, he said. “To ease tensions in the broader Persian Gulf region, the US must stop its military adventurism in our region, as well as its economic war”.
US officials have said that Iran was responsible for two separate incidents in recent weeks, around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, involving six oil tankers which were damaged. Iran has categorically denied any involvement.
Last week, an unmanned US drone was shot down by the Iranian military over what the US said were international waters in the Gulf, but Ambassador Ravanchi repeated Iran’s assertion on Monday, that the drone had been violating Iranian airspace when it was shot down.
