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Iran: â€œUS missile system leads to Gulf divisionâ€

02 February 2010 22:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. Iran on Tuesday warned its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf that the U.S. is trying to drive a wedge between them by ramping up its missile defense systems in the region.

U.S. military officials said over the weekend that the systems â€” involving upgraded Patriot missiles on land and more U.S. Navy ships capable of destroying missiles in flight â€” is intended to counter a potential Iranian missile strike.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met Tuesday with the crown prince of Qatar, one of four Arab nations where the U.S. has based Patriot missile systems, and told him the West was seeking to divide them.

"Westerners do not want friendly relations between countries in the region. Their life is dependent on rifts and insecurity," the president told the visiting crown prince, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose country hosts the largest U.S. base in the Gulf.
Ahmadinejad said Iran and Qatar should build closer links and develop a common understanding of what he called plots by enemies.

The predominantly Sunni Arab Middle East â€” and Gulf nations in particular â€” have been wary of the growing influence of Shiite Iran, especially because of international suspicions that its nuclear program has a military dimension.

The United States and its Western allies have been pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, especially because it refuses to freeze its uranium enrichment program and belated revelations that it was building a secret fortified plant.

But with Russia, and especially China, skeptical of any new U.N. penalties, they have to tread carefully to maintain six power unity on how to deal with the Islamic Republic and recent meetings have not resulted in any agreements on sanctions.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, warned nations in the region not to be "deceived by U.S. anti-Iran policies" and talk of a growing Iranian threat.

"When in the past 31 years has Iran attacked any of its neighboring states or any other countries in the region?" Larijani said, referring to the length of time that the country’s Islamic leadership has been in power.

"Regional countries should know that this puppet show by the U.S., while claiming to create security in the region, is nothing except a new political ploy to increase the (American) military presence at the expense of others," Larijani said in a parliament session.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters that Iran believes the U.S. missile systems to be "ineffective," though he did not elaborate.