MNA � Iranian First Vice-President Es�hagh Jahangiri slammed the United States for resorting to �threadbare policy� of fomenting tensions in the Persian Gulf in order to justify its presence in the region.







�The US is still resorting to its deceitful strategy of creating instability and insecurity [in the Persian Gulf] to increase its presence in the region,� Jahangiri said on Monday at the first Caspian Economic Forum, which is underway in Turkmenistan's Awaza.

However, Jahangiri added, Washington�s threadbare policy of Iranophobia has long been hampered by the Islamic Republic�s effective role in the region�s developments and its fight against terrorism.

He warned that no country could undermine the security of territorial ad international waters in north and south of Iran, as these are the red lines for the Islamic Republic.

�The stability and security of the northern and southern coasts and international waters, as well as the Strait of Hormuz, are considered as Iran�s main concerns and red lines, since [the Islamic Republic] has put considerable effort into the matter and paid considerable costs for many years,� he said.

The United States has been trying to persuade its allies to form an international coalition with the declared aim of providing �security� for merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz � through which about a fifth of all oil consumed globally pass �and other strategic Middle Eastern shipping lanes.

The US had officially asked Germany to participate � alongside Britain and France � in the coalition, a request that was declined by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. The UK, however, accepted to join the US-led coalition.

Last week, the Israeli regime expressed interest in joining the United States' self-proclaimed maritime coalition.

Shortly after the announcement, Iran warned the Israeli regime over the consequences of such decision.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said the Islamic Republic considers possible Israeli presence in a US-led coalition in the Persian Gulf as a clear threat to its national security and reserves the right to counter it within the framework of the country's deterrence and defensive policy.