ussia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the United States is doing all it can to prevent convergence and dialog between Iran and the Persian Gulf region’s Arab countries.

"We are interested in Iran and the Arab states [of the Persian Gulf] establishing a normal dialog, reaching confidence-building agreements, transparency in military affairs, and developing cooperation in general,” Lavrov was cited by Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency as telling a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
He, however, added, “Unfortunately, our American colleagues, at least the current administration, have been doing their utmost to thwart this dialog [between Iran and regional Arab states] up until now."
The United States, especially under the now lame-duck administration of President Donald Trump, has been rallying the regional countries around its extremely anti-Iran approach. The Trump team has been also trying to further its alliance with the regional rulers, who have made a point of distancing their countries from the Islamic Republic.

Washington has also been spearheading a normalization drive between the Israeli regime and some regional Arab states since September. The drive has likewise seen all the involved parties trying to project Iran as their “common enemy.”

Tehran, on the other hand, has changelessly extended a hand of friendship towards its fellow Persian Gulf littoral nations, cautioning them against involving extra-regional states in the region’s security and political affairs.

President Hassan Rouhani has come up with a proposal, dubbed Hormuz Peace Initiative (HOPE), which is so designed to enable reconciliation and further cooperation among all countries of the region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov stated that Russia has developed a proposal to create a security strategy for the Persian Gulf, which would be particularly aimed at developing dialog between Iran and the Arab states.

"It is crucial that no one interferes in this process and take actions aimed at undermining the very efforts made to create this dialog," he underlined.