GENEVA, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will present a plan for creating security in the Persian Gulf in cooperation with other countries in the region when he attends the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.
Saudi Arabia and the United States accuse Iran of attacking Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14, the largest-ever such assault on the world’s top oil exporter.
Iran denies involvement in the attack, which was claimed by Yemen’s Houthi movement, a group aligned with Iran and currently fighting a Saudi-led alliance in Yemen’s civil war.
“This year we will present a plan to the world at the United Nations that the Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with the countries of the region can create security for the Persian Gulf and the Oman sea with the help of the countries of the region,” Rouhani was cited as saying on his official website.
He did not provide further details.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday approved sending American troops to bolster Saudi Arabia’s air and missile defences after the attacks on Saudi oil sites.
Rouhani said the presence of foreign forces in the region would create insecurity for oil and shipping.
Saudi Arabia has described the strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities as a test of whether there is global will to preserve international order, and will seek to form a united front at the United Nations General Assembly.
“We are not someone who will violate the borders of others just as we will not allow anyone to violate our borders,” Rouhani said at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the start of the Islamic Republic’s 1980-1988 war with Iraq, according to his website.
Long-range missiles, speedboats and warships were shown in video footage on state TV as part of the ceremonies.
A domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defence system, the Bavar-373, which Iranian media have described as a competitor to the Russian S-300 missile system, was also on display, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Last year, gunmen attacked a military parade commemorating the anniversary in the city of Ahvaz, killing 25, about half of whom were members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
At the time, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, accused Saudi Arabia of backing the attackers, which Riyadh denied.
(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh Editing by Sam Holmes, Raissa Kasolowsky and Giles Elgood)
