CAMBRIDGE — Oman called on Monday for a non-aggression pact among the eight countries bordering the Gulf, urging regional powers to take greater responsibility for their security and reduce excessive reliance on outside powers.

Foreign Minister His Excellency Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi said a framework bringing together the six Gulf Cooperation Council states, Iran and Iraq could help resolve disputes, build trust and establish lasting stability.

Speaking at Britain’s University of Cambridge, Busaidi said Oman was continuing diplomatic efforts to facilitate dialogue and prevent conflict, guided by its view that its own security depended on that of its neighbours.

Oman maintains peaceful relations with all neighbouring countries and is working to settle differences and preserve and expand peace across the region, he told an audience of diplomats, foreign policy experts and academics.

Reviewing Muscat’s role in facilitating negotiations between Washington and Tehran over the past two years, Busaidi said the talks had sought to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme and end decades of hostility.

Oman believed the negotiations had made significant progress and that an agreement had been within reach, he said.

Busaidi also outlined Oman’s high-level talks and technical consultations with Iran on temporary arrangements to help ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Implementing those arrangements would require a practical understanding between Iran and the United States, as well as a willingness by both sides to make concessions, he said.

Recent negotiating efforts had reinforced the need for countries in the region to assume responsibility for their own security, Busaidi said, calling for a new dialogue based on cooperation and mutual trust.

The proposed talks would include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, alongside Iran and Iraq.

Busaidi recalled a 1976 meeting in Muscat at which the foreign ministers of the eight Gulf littoral states discussed collective security arrangements. Reviving that initiative’s ambition could open the way for a more inclusive regional response to current challenges, he said.

A non-aggression pact among the eight countries would be a fundamental step towards sustainable regional security, he added.

External partnerships should support that effort and develop into major economic investments across the eight countries, Busaidi said, while regional states should take the lead in designing, developing and implementing their security arrangements.