The Guardian:

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has said he will present a plan for Gulf security at this week’s UN general assembly, as Washington and Tehran fight for diplomatic advantage in the wake of the devastating attack on the Saudi oil industry.

Rouhani made clear the Iranian proposal, dubbed the ‘Coalition of Hope’, was designed to exclude the US, which would make it unpalatable to Gulf states who see Washington as an ally and protector.

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, later said that opposition to foreign forces in the Gulf was not a precondition for joining the coalition, and that all the permanent members of the UN security council were welcome to take part.

Iran’s scheme is seen at the UN an attempt for the diplomatic high ground, at a time when the US and Saudi Arabia blame the country for the 14 September air strikes on Saudi oil fields, and the Gulf appears on the brink of a major conflict.

“The security of the Persian Gulf, the strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman is indigenous,” President Rouhani said at an extensive military parade marking the 39th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war. “Foreign forces could cause problems and insecurity for our nation and region,” he added.

In a move likely aimed at easing pressure on Iran ahead of Rouhani’s general assembly speech on Wednesday, a maritime official was quoted in the Iranian press as saying that a British-flagged oil tanker, the Stena Impero, seized by Iran more than two months ago, would soon be allowed to set sail from the port of Bandar Abbas.

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