Regional countries should pool their resources and establish new mechanisms for security cooperation to help stem the spread of terrorism and prevent the loss of civilian lives, a senior lawmaker said.
"Under the current circumstances, Middle East countries should hold talks and develop a structure for security cooperation," Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told ICANA in remarks published on Monday.
He said security arrangements are common across the world and issues facing the Middle East, particularly in the field of security, necessitate closer and more comprehensive collaboration in this region.
"Increased security cooperation among regional countries will help prevent the loss of civilian lives," he said, referring to ongoing conflicts in a number of regional states, which have claimed the lives of thousands of civilians in recent years, including women and children.
>Iran's Proposal
The lawmaker said the proposal of Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif made earlier this year, in which he introduced an inclusive and integrated security model for the Middle East, can serve as the basis for future negotiations about new security mechanisms.
In his speech to the Second Tehran Security Conference in January, Zarif noted that "security networking based on synergy and inclusion" is the only way out of the crises besetting the region.
He later expanded upon his proposal in an article published by the Financial Times.
"The rules of this new order are straightforward: common standards, most significantly the purposes and principles of the UN Charter such as sovereign equality of states, refraining from the threat or use of force, peaceful resolution of conflicts, respect for the territorial integrity of states, non-intervention in the domestic affairs of states and respect for self-determination within states," he said.
Zarif also suggested that a regional dialogue forum be established in the Persian Gulf to address the "dialogue deficit" and move from turmoil to stability.
>Common Challenge
Naqavi-Hosseini said terrorism is a common threat to all nations and lamented that some countries, including certain regional states, have become breeding grounds for terrorists and provide different forms of support to extremist groups.
Terrorists in the region are being financially and logistically supported by Israel and the United States in line with their political agendas, he stated, adding that a number of regional countries are also backing terrorists, such as Saudi Arabia that supports some terrorist groups.
Zarif recently said it is wrong to believe that security can be guaranteed through reliance on extra-regional powers, stressing that Iran is ready to cooperate more closely with its neighbors.
"[US] President [Donald] Trump repeatedly humiliates the Saudis by saying they can't last two weeks without his support. This is the recompense for the delusion that one's security can be outsourced," he wrote on his official Twitter account.
Earlier this month, Trump warned Saudi Arabia's King Salman that he would not last in power "for two weeks" without the backing of the US military and appeared to call on the country to pay more for its own defense.
In his tweet, the foreign minister said, "We again extend our hand to our neighbors: let's build a 'strong region', and stop this conceit."
Zarif has in the past encouraged other nations to help create a "strong region" based on the interests of all countries in the Persian Gulf and the application of the "win-win rule".
