Zarif calls for realistic coop in Persian Gulf

"Realpolitik has failed miserably in providing security for anyone in the Persian Gulf," Zarif tweeted on Tuesday.

He added: "Let's try more ‘realistic' cooperation: the #HOPE initiative."

"But, like the nuclear accord, no good idea can be pursued by only one party," he noted.

Earlier, addressing Doha Forum 2019, Zarif said: "We in Iran believe that a new regional approach should be the outcome of collective deliberations."

"As for weapons trade, the Persian Gulf states accounted for nearly ONE QUARTER of GLOBAL ARMS IMPORTS during 2014-18, almost DOUBLING on average compared to the preceding five years," he added.

"Unsurprisingly, the United States sold most of these lethal arms. But the real question is: have these vast US arms sales to this region recovered anything even remotely close to the 7 trillion dollars that President Trump himself has acknowledged as having been wasted in our region since 2001?"

"To be fair, global powers do not have a monopoly over this cognitive disorder. Unfortunately, nobody does."

END