Tehran: Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has stressed the need for Muslim countries to rely on regional cooperation and their own capabilities rather than extra-regional powers. In a message marking Unity Week on Saturday, Ghalibaf said recent developments in the region had shown that Muslim nations and governments were increasingly recognizing the limitations of relying on foreign powers for their security.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Ghalibaf stated that powers outside the region were neither capable nor willing to provide lasting security for regional nations, adding that security based on their presence and intervention would remain fragile and dependent. By contrast, security founded on the will of Muslim nations and brotherly cooperation among regional countries could be stable, dignified, and lasting.

He highlighted signs of such a shift in the emergence of new regional pacts, cooperation, and arrangements. 'These new regional arrangements can herald the beginning of a new phase in which Muslim neighbors rely on their own capacities rather than outsiders and, instead of exhausting rivalries, choose the path of cooperation and brotherhood,' Ghalibaf said.

Ghalibaf also called for greater unity among Muslim nations, emphasizing that the Islamic world should strengthen its bonds of brotherhood and work toward an era of greater unity, independence, security, and dignity.