Iran delivered a blistering rebuke on Friday, denouncing a joint United States-Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) statement as “interfering, irresponsible, and provocative,” while urging regional states to break free from what it described as Washington’s destabilizing, divide-and-rule machinations.
In an official communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry, Tehran categorically rejected the language of the US-PGCC joint declaration, characterizing it as a calculated assault on Iranian sovereignty. The ministry dismissed Washington’s professed “sustained commitment to the security of PGCC member states” as little more than rhetorical posturing, arguing that the American military presence in the region has devolved into “a burden on the peoples of the region and a source of insecurity and division.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned an “interfering, irresponsible and provocative” joint statement issued by the US Secretary of State and foreign ministers of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC).https://t.co/F8HfoW7ngI
— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom) June 26, 2026
Drawing attention to recent hostilities, the ministry highlighted Washington’s direct complicity by pointing to the use of US bases and military installations in regional countries to mount acts of aggression against Iran between February 28 and April 8, 2026. This, Tehran asserted, lays bare the reality that the United States places no genuine value on regional stability or bilateral ties. Consequently, Iran called on those regional states whose territory and infrastructure were leveraged during what it termed the “recent imposed war by US-Israeli aggressors” to fundamentally reassess their strategic alignments. Tehran further underscored the “clear obligation” of PGCC members under international law and the principle of good neighborliness to prohibit any third party from utilizing their soil for unlawful military actions against the Islamic Republic.
Leveling an especially sharp rebuke, the ministry expressed “disgust” at the reiteration of what it called a “big lie fabricated by the genocidal Zionist regime and the United States” regarding the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. It urged PGCC states to disassociate from Washington’s “threat narrative” and instead join Tehran in championing a collective initiative for a West Asia free of nuclear weapons—while compelling the US to cease its obstruction of that goal.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that “lasting peace and security in the region” can only be forged through trust-building and mutual cooperation among regional states, free from exploitative foreign interference. It rejected the characterization of “threats emanating from Iran” as a politically contrived construct aimed at imposing US narratives on regional governments, and strongly condemned efforts to cast Iran’s defensive capabilities as a menace. Tehran also criticized Washington’s “divide and rule” policy, which it said has propelled regional states into a “dangerous and endless arms race,” while reaffirming that the Islamic Republic “will not tolerate even the slightest compromise” in safeguarding its sovereignty.
Turning to the contentious issue of regional resistance movements, the ministry voiced regret over the PGCC’s alignment with the US and ‘Israel’ in branding Palestinian and Lebanese resistance factions as “Iranian proxies.” Tehran flatly rejected that framing, countering that “the only proxy entity in the region is the Zionist regime,” and asserting that the struggle of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples against occupation and apartheid is “legitimate and fully in accordance with international law.”
The statement further issued a pointed warning concerning maritime security, reminding regional states of the “direct responsibility” borne by the US, the Israeli regime, and those regional countries that supported the recent US-Israeli aggression for persistent instability in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran emphasized that the strategic waterway falls within the territorial jurisdiction of Iran and Oman, and that navigation management in the area is definitively governed by arrangements stipulated under paragraph 5 of the memorandum concluding the imposed war.
In its closing remarks, the Foreign Ministry called on PGCC member states to thoroughly reevaluate their security postures in light of the recent conflict, reiterating its foundational doctrine: “collective security can only be achieved through cooperation among regional states and without foreign intervention.”
Source: Iranian media (edite dby Al-Manar)