Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has called on Gulf states to stop trying to borrow security from extra-regional powers, warning that the US military presence in the Middle East “serves only as a source of instability and endangers the very countries hosting those bases”.

Baghaei, in an interview on Press TV’s ‘Unscripted’ programme, reaffirms Tehran’s longstanding position that genuine and lasting security in the region can “only be secured through indigenous cooperation among the regional states themselves, without any outside interference”.

“The US military presence in the region is a liability and brings nothing but insecurity,” the spokesman stated, pointing out how Washington’s military bases have repeatedly exposed host nations to unnecessary risks rather than providing real protection.

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