Oman Calls for Regional Confab to Promote Understanding

Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi suggested in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart that an all-inclusive conference could help alleviate the critical situation in the region by promoting deeper understanding among its nations. 
"The regional situation calls for better dialogue and understanding, for which purpose a broad conference attended by all concerned countries would be useful," he said in a meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran on Monday, ISNA reported. 
The Middle East region has been experiencing heightened tensions since May with several attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and an assault on key Saudi oil facilities.
Zarif stressed that Iran welcomes and supports any initiative that is introduced "in good faith" and "with the aim of defusing regional tensions". 
He added that Iran's determination to engage in talks with all countries of the region is serious.   
"The Hormuz peace initiative was proposed along this line," he said. 
He was referring to a plan called Hormuz Peace Endeavour that was proposed by President Hassan Rouhani during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in late September, inviting all Persian Gulf states as well as the United Nations to work together to guarantee regional security. 
The plan was devised as an alternative to American and European-led security coalitions that Iran argues will not be effective due to the involvement of foreign countries. 
Alawi and Zarif also discussed other areas of mutual interest, including political, economic and scientific cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels.