The ongoing conflict, driven by US and Israeli hostility toward Iran, has drawn attention to Iran’s neighbors and its neighborhood policy, particularly following Iran’s inevitable strikes on US military bases in some neighboring countries. For years, Washington and certain European powers have sought to portray Iran as a threat to its regional neighbors. This narrative—largely shaped by geopolitical competition—exploits the region’s geographical position to present Iran as if its regional policy were based on fomenting tension and instability.
Spreading fear about Iran among regional states, particularly in the Persian Gulf, has been a US tactic to expand its influence in these countries. Although Iran’s official positions and diplomatic initiatives in recent years, under its neighborhood policy, have aimed at regional cooperation and establishing local security mechanisms, Washington’s orchestrated environment has prevented this policy from bearing fruit.
One consistent element of Iran’s neighborhood policy over the decades has been the view that sustainable security in the Middle East—especially in the Persian Gulf—can only be achieved if regional countries themselves take responsibility for managing disputes and ensuring collective security. In line with this approach, Iran proposed the “Hormuz Peace Initiative” for the Gulf region in 2019, at a time when the region faced escalating tensions and widespread security concerns.
The Hormuz Peace Initiative was based on a set of fundamental principles: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, ensuring freedom of navigation and energy security, and establishing confidence-building measures among regional governments.
The primary goal of the initiative was to allow Gulf countries, within a shared framework and relying on mutual interests, to create mechanisms for dispute management and enhanced security cooperation. Under this framework, the role of external powers would be minimized, and the primary responsibility for regional security would rest with the regional countries themselves. From Iran’s perspective, such a model could lay the groundwork for reduced tensions, increased security transparency, and gradual trust-building among neighbors.
Nevertheless, many regional states have hosted US military bases. It would not be far from the truth to hold both the US and these host countries jointly responsible for the unprecedented crimes committed in the recent war against Iran, and to consider them legitimate targets of retaliation. Iran, however, did not act this way and struck only foreign bases.
Iranian officials, including the president, have repeatedly emphasized that neighboring countries are like brothers to Iran and that there is no intention to attack or infringe on their territory unless these lands are used as a launchpad for attacks against Iran.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday further outlined the foundations of international law regarding the “obligation of regional countries to refrain from allowing their territory or facilities to be used for military aggression against Iran.” It also stressed that “Iran, exercising its inherent right to defend its existence and in light of the clear failure of the UN Security Council to fulfill its duties, has conducted necessary and proportionate defensive operations against the facilities and bases of aggressors in the region.”
Accordingly, while emphasizing the maintenance and continuation of friendly relations with regional countries and respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all these states, Iran underlined that its defensive operations against US military bases and facilities in the region should in no way be interpreted as hostility toward regional countries. Perhaps one of the most critical regional security imperatives is the need to reduce dependence on opportunistic external actors and schemers, who consider only their own interests and view the region’s countries and resources purely instrumentally.
NOURNEWS