Video: Revolutionary Guards vessels seize tanker in Gulf (Reuters)
Iran's naval commander said on Saturday that Tehran and Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf states, plan to form a naval alliance that would also include India and Pakistan. "The countries of the region understood today that only cooperation between them will bring regional security," said Navy Commander Shahram Irani. He did not specify what that alliance, which he said would soon be formed, would look like.
The Iranian admiral also listed the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – two countries that have established ties with Israel in recent years – along with Iraq as members of the emerging naval alliance. The countries he mentioned did not comment on his remarks, but Tehran and Riyadh signed a reconciliation agreement in March after years of diplomatic rift and military tension.
Iran's rapprochement with the Gulf states undermined Israel's plan to isolate Tehran in the region, after years of expecting a breakthrough in relations with Saudi Arabia. The UAE, for its part, recently withdrew from a regional naval force led by the United States amid reports of frustration over the lack of an American response to Iran's takeover of oil tankers in the Gulf.
Iranian naval special forces at a parade marking Army Day, April (Photo: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are longtime allies of the United States, but in recent years they have repeatedly expressed frustration with its policy toward Iran and its nuclear program and have chosen to restore relations with the Islamic Republic.
- news
- World News
- Middle East
Tags
- Iran
- Saudi Arabia
- U.A.E
