Iran ready to give security, economic safeguards to Gulf countries
Kuwait News Agency - 23 October, 2008
www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=436639&news_type=Top&lang=en&PHPSESSID=4a7c1218ca702bb19446d8eae22486ea

Visiting Iranian Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said here
Wednesday Iran was ready to provide adequate security and economic
guarantees to Gulf countries.

Tehran seeks to forge bonds of rapprochement and understanding with other
countries, particularly Gulf ones, Larijani told a news conference at the
wrapping-up of his current visit to Bahrain.

He hailed his talks with Bahraini King Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa as
fruitful and favorable, covering a large scope of bilateral, regional and
international issues.

He denied any disagreement on a planned Iranian-Bahraini natural gas
project. On the contrary, he said he was impressed by Bahraini satisfaction
with the outcomes of talks in this respect.

Iran is willing to hammer out bilateral or multilateral deals with Gulf
nations in both security and economic domains in a bid to reassure them
about Iran's regional role, he said.

Iran wants to capitalize on its Islamic and regional dimensions to build
bridges of cooperation with other countries, he added.

On Iran's disagreements with Gulf nations, especially its dispute with the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) over three islands, he recognized that there are
really some simple differences with Gulf countries, but they are being
fueled and exaggerated by the US as a premonition of the region's people.

He said there is a clear-cut desire for rapprochement and cooperation,
claiming that the US is seeking to take the opportunity of such differences
to fuel sectarian and communal tensions with a view to creating disunity in
the region.

"The US seeks to find a fictitious foe notably; Iran, in this region in
order to take control of Gulf money, especially in light of the US economic
crisis," he said.

On Iranian-Syrian relations, Larijani said both countries have been enjoying
strategic ties based on years of joint cooperation.

But, he billed Syrian-Israeli talks as part of a "political game" as Israel
has turned its deaf ears to all peace initiatives.

He even claimed that "we will witness in the next few days the funeral of
the Annapolis conference", as Israel is building more Jewish settlements on
Palestinian territories, shrugging off all peace initiatives.

"The Zionist entity is based on disputes and conflicts, and does not want
peace. No peace initiative with Israel has borne any fruits up till now," he
said.

Asked about Saudi mediation between Afghanistan and Taliban movement, he
showed his country's welcome of any effort to lead to Afghan unity and a new
government representing all Afghan society brackets.

On US presidential polls, Larijani believed that if Barrack Obama wins the
US presidential election, there will be favorable outcomes thanks to his
more sensible and wiser positions than his Republican rival.

But, he said more importantly, actions should be louder than words, accusing
the US of adopting double-standard policy.

For instance, the US came up with a project of democratic reforms in the
Middle East region, but, unfortunately, it objected to the Palestinian
election results that brought Hamas to power, he said.

He lashed out at a US-Iraqi security pact, claiming that no US soldier could
be tried at Iraqi courts whatever crimes he might commit.

However, Larijani cushioned the ramifications of the global financial
meltdown on Iran as "very limited" given the fact that Iran's national
economy is home-directed.

Ruling out another US war, he claims that the US now needs USD 1.4 trillion
to finesse the impacts of its credit crunch.

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