Int'l confab urges Withdrawal of foreign forces from Persian Gulf

Tehran, June 20, IRNA - The 18th International Conference on the Persian Gulf on Tuesday evening underscored the need for decrease in presence of foreign military forces in the region.

In a statement issued at the end of the two-day event, the
participants also called for all-out cooperation among all regional
states to establish security.

They also called for change in the US approach towards the Mideast and
Persian Gulf countries and adopting policies to help remove the
existing tensions and build confidence.

The statement urged all regional countries to fight against terrorism
which is endangering the whole world, particularly the Persian Gulf
region.

On critical situation in Iraq, the participants stressed that an
independent, stable and democratic Iraq would benefit all regional
states.

Therefore, all regional countries were urged to cooperate with each
other to help stability, security and peace in that war-torn country,
it said.

The statement also stressed scheduled withdrawal of foreign forces and
called on all neighboring states to play key role in reconstruction of
Iraq and refrain from interfering in domestic affairs of that country.

The Persian Gulf conference was attended by some 53 experts,
intellectuals, lawyers and political officials from Jordan, Bahrain,
Uzbekistan, South Africa, Germany, Ukraine, US, Italy, China, Russia,
Japan, Serbia, Iraq, Oman, France, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Poland,
Lebanon, Malaysia, Egypt, India, Greece and Iran.

Various topics such as expansion of cooperation, stability and
regional security as well as ways of dealing with existing challenges
and threats in the region, expansion of economic and commercial
cooperation, regional convergence, and the role of media in promoting
regional cooperation were discussed by the delegates.