Dubai, August 13: Iraq’s foreign minister Mohammed al-Hakim has on Monday said the regional tension in the Gulf region is fuelling through the presence of the Western forces in the area, Reuters reported.
In his official Twitter handle, Hakim said, “The states of the Gulf can together secure the transit of ships. Iraq is seeking to reduce tension in our region through calm negotiations and the presence of Western forces in the region will increase tension.”
The reaction comes after Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Italy on Tuesday supported a British proposal for a European maritime force after Iran captured a UK-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al-Jazeera news reports.
Relations between Iran and the United Kingdom (UK) have been stressed since British officials seized an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month on doubt it was shipping crude oil to Syria in violation of the European Union (EU) sanctions.
Iran has blamed Britain for acting at the command of the United States and requested the immediate release arrival of its vessel.