DHAKA: Iran was offered a Gulf initiative seeking to mend ties with GCC and other Arab countries and open a new chapter of cooperation and good neighbourly relations.

A regional Gulf security conference heard on Wednesday, gulfnews.com reports.

Dr Ebtisam Al Katbi, Chairperson of the Emirates Policy Centre, presented the initiative, which she said is aimed at building ‘a sustainable security in the Arabian Gulf’ at the Conference on Security in the Arabian Gulf co-organised by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

Dr Ebtisam suggested that the would be Arab League-backed initiative should call for resolving disputes between Iran and GCC countries, foremost of which is the three UAE’s islands occupied by Iran since 1971.

‘Iran should also not interfere in the internal affairs of countries of the region, nor should it interfere in the affairs of the Arab states. The two sides should also stop sectarian mobilisation,’ Dr Ebtisam, professor of Political Science at the UAE University suggested.

The leading political analyst also suggested that the GCC member countries should be represented in the P5+1 talks on Iran nuclear programme.

BDST: 1748 HRS, DEC 11, 2013