Iran calls for 'homegrown' West Asia security paradigm as US talks stall

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called for a fundamental rethinking of security frameworks in West Asia, emphasizing that sustainable peace can only be achieved by empowering regional actors rather than relying on foreign intervention.

In an article titled “Building a new reality for the region: Toward stability, sovereignty and solidarity in West Asia,” Araghchi painted a sobering picture of mounting challenges in the region, including protracted conflicts, environmental degradation, and humanitarian crises.

He argued that externally imposed security arrangements have repeatedly failed to deliver long-term stability.“The people of this region have paid the price for policies that were drafted without their consent or participation,” he wrote.

The top Iranian diplomat said the current geopolitical disorder is rooted in decades of unresolved conflicts, worsened by foreign interference.

He warned that issues like water scarcity, refugee displacement, and economic fragility are shared threats requiring regional cooperation rather than competitive power politics.

“Security in West Asia must no longer be treated as a zero-sum game,” Araghchi stressed. “It should be a collective endeavor based on mutual respect and inclusive dialogue.”

However, he warned that no regional security architecture would be complete without addressing the role of Israel, which he accused of persistent destabilization and operating outside international disarmament norms.

“A regime that systematically violates international law and enjoys unchecked military privilege cannot be part of any sustainable security framework,” Araghchi said, citing Israel’s nuclear ambiguity and history of regional military activity.

Araghchi called for West Asia to embrace a “homegrown paradigm of security” rooted in shared sovereignty and common prosperity, inviting global powers to support, rather than dictate, this transition.

“The future of West Asia will not be written in distant capitals,” he concluded. “It will be authored by the peoples of the region, based on frameworks reflecting their histories, cultures, and collective will.”

Araghchi’s article comes as indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States appear stalled, with both sides holding firm on uranium enrichment — a key sticking point each describes as a red line.

It also comes in the wake of a weakening of some of Iran's key military allies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and allied groups in Syria, once a military stronghold for Tehran under the presidency of ousted President Bashar al Assad.