Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says any military presence in the Persian Gulf from outside the region would be a “source of insecurity” for Iran, and Tehran would act to safeguard its security.

The United Nations has finally condemned the execution of two young activists in Bahrain, as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown on political dissidents and pro-democracy activists in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Now is the time to survey the wreck of the world with an air of concern. The United Arab Emirates is withdrawing its troops from war-torn Yemen in coordination with key ally Saudi Arabia.

Today marks twenty-nine years since the shoot down by the USS Vincennes of Iran Air flight 655, which killed all of the plane’s 290 civilian passengers. This shoot down of a civilian airliner by a US naval ship occurred on July 3, 1988, toward the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.

In great violation of UN Charter and international law, and with no international accountability, the United States is currently engaged in illegal and comprehensive economic blockades against Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, as well as several lesser blockades against countries such as Cuba and Nicaragua, and an intensifying effort to cut off China's access to technology.

The United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings has called for an international investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death, excoriating the UN for its “paralysis” and Saudi Arabia for its handling of the case.

Reports from the ground highlight the deepening crisis for Yemen’s 26 million civilians, largely forgotten and caught in the cross-chairs of a protracted conflict that has had calamitous consequences for everyone in the Middle East. This is while some 16 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the civil war began in 2015.

US President Donald Trump has called off military strikes against Iran according to The New York Times, in response to Iran’s shooting of a US drone inside the country's airspace over the coastal province of Hormozgan on Thursday. The decision to avoid escalating the standoff with Iran in the Persian Gulf suggests that Washington is well aware that “Iran has many options available to raise the cost for the US and its friends in the region,” in the event of a military confrontation.

The United States continues to push the world peace and stability against the wall with all those trade conflicts and sanctions against friends and foes.