Tehran to host regional security conference Monday

The second edition of a conference on Middle East security will be held in Iran’s capital of Tehran on January 8.

In a statement, the conference secretariat said the upcoming event is the second one in less than two months.

More than 200 politicians and analysts from Iran and abroad are going to take part in the conference on “Regional Security in West Asia: Emerging Trends and Challenges”, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami will be among the keynote speakers in the gathering.

The conference is expected to focus on the role of Iran and the other regional and transregional players in the Middle East security arrangements, the links between economic progress and regional security, collective defense and security cooperation, as well as the axis of resistance’s role in West Asia security.

In an address to the previous security conference in Tehran held in November 2017, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denounced the Israeli regime as the main obstacle to the establishment of a nuke-free Middle East, saying Tel Aviv, benefiting from US support, ruins efforts to prevent proliferation of atomic weapons.

Israel is widely understood to possess nuclear weapons but declines to confirm or deny it under the policy of nuclear ambiguity. It has refused to join the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.