Global General

Iran criticizes US military deployment in Gulf

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-02 21:28

TEHRAN: Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday criticized the US arms deployment in some Gulf states as the main problem of the region, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Larijani said it seems strange that the Americans are not aware that they are making problems for the region by sending more and more arms to the region, the report said.

"Regional countries must know that the US puppet show for security and protection of the region is nothing but a new political fraud and it wants to pave the way for its presence in the region at the expense of other countries," he was quoted as saying.

Larijani referred to the deployment of US missile systems in four Gulf states, saying, "it is interesting that regional countries' concern about Iran has been declared as the justification for the move," according to Fars.

Washington has plans to deploy anti-missile weapons systems off Iran's coast in the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to the news agency.

Washington wants to deploy the systems which Tehran claims are aimed to secure Iran's arch-foe Israel against threats from Iran and to counter Iran's missile capabilities and Tehran's nuclear program, the news agency said.

Last week, Iran's parliament speaker said in Kuwait that Iran's military capabilities are for the security of the regional states. He urged the Arab states in the Gulf not to allow the US forces to use their territories for operations against Tehran.

Iran, an influential Islamic country in the Middle East region, is persistent on boosting its missile capabilities along with its controversial nuclear program despite the West's suspicion that Tehran is covertly building nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly said that its military enhancement has defensive purposes and that its nuclear program is peaceful and intends to generate electricity for civilian use.