Extra-Regional Presence to Make Persian Gulf Insecure: Zarif

“Persian Gulf is vital lifeline and thus national security priority for Iran, which has long ensured maritime security,” Zarif said in a Friday tweet.

“Mindful of this reality, any extra-regional presence is by definition [a] source of insecurity – despite propaganda,” he added.

He also vowed that “Iran won’t hesitate to safeguard its security.”

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi warned that the possible Israeli presence in a self-proclaimed US-led military coalition in the Persian Gulf is a clear threat to Iran’s national security, and the country reserves the right to counter it.

Mousavi made the remarks in reaction to reports of the Zionist regime’s declaration of its preparedness to join a US-led military coalition to “protect the safety of navigation” in the Persian Gulf.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes the coalition is tension-provoking in nature,” the spokesman said.

Mousavi referred to the occupying regime’s “illegitimate existence in the Middle East” as the “basis of insecurity and instability”, and said Iran considers any Israeli presence in this coalition as “a clear threat to its security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and a crisis-provoking and destabilizing element in the Persian Gulf Region.”

Referring to the US’ attempts to form a military coalition or hold a maritime security conference in the future on the pretext of ensuring the safety of navigation in the Persian Gulf, Mousavi said, “Iran as one of the Persian Gulf littoral states has 1,500 miles of coastline in this region, considers the Persian Gulf as part of its territory, and feels committed to ensure its security and the safety of the navigation of ships in this region based on its historical responsibility.”