Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi urged Iran to take to build trust with its neighbors and stop policies that undermine stability in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNobody in the GCC wants Iran to go down the drain,\u201d Albudaiwi said at a panel titled Iran and the Changing Regional Security Environment during the Doha Forum 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are here to talk about the present and the future \u2013 how to make our region as peaceful, as stable, as prosperous as possible along with our brothers and sisters in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the GCC seeks a cooperative relationship with Iran based on dialogue, respect for the UN Charter, and non-interference in regional affairs. \u201cWe need to take the right steps towards trust-building measures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut there are really serious measures that we would like our brothers in Iran to take. The policies that Iran sometimes take really shake the stability of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albudaiwi cited Iran\u2019s support for Yemen\u2019s Houthi group as an example of destabilizing activity and said Arab states astride the Persian Gulf had already taken steps toward de-escalation, including Saudi Arabia\u2019s 2023 normalization agreement with Tehran and mediation efforts by Oman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have put the right steps toward Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat the GCC wants from Iran is simple and basic \u2013 like any normal neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He described Iran as part of the region\u2019s shared culture and history but said progress required concrete change. \u201cIran is our neighbor, our history, our culture,\u201d Albudaiwi said. \u201cWe have so much to share with Iran. It\u2019s the present and the future that we should concentrate on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran remains resilient despite recent challenges, stressing that the country has endured hardship throughout its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had our ups, and certainly today is not one of our ups,\u201d Zarif said at the Doha Forum. \u201cIran has gone through storms for almost seven millennia \u2013 we\u2019ve been invaded, we\u2019ve been occupied, but we never went down the drain. We are still standing up and we will continue to stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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