Iran Urges Gulf States to Reject U.S. Military Plans

Iran, warning that deployment of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf would create instability, told Qatar that regional states must stand together and reject plans for a permanent Western military presence in the area.

The Iranian news agency IRNA reported Monday that President Hashemi Rafsanjani made the call during talks with a visiting Qatari envoy.

“We expect friendly states on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf to stand up against the sinister plan of permanent military presence of foreign forces in the region, and by properly assessing this hegemonic attitude, strengthen friendship and cooperation in the region,” Rafsanjani said.

Qatar was among Gulf Arab states approached by Washington for the prepositioning of military hardware to contain what Secretary of Defense William J. Perry called “a very real danger of further military conflicts” in the oil-rich region.

Perry, who toured the region in March, said this month that he had secured an agreement with Qatar for prepositioning equipment for an armored brigade. U.S. tanks and other hardware for a brigade are already in place in Kuwait.