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Monday, October 12, 2009     FOLLOW UPDATES ON TWITTER

U.S. steps up reassurances to Gulf states on Iran

ABU DHABI — The United States is continuing its efforts to address concerns by Gulf Arab states that they could fall victim to Iran.   

The administration of President Barack Obama has pledged that the U.S. effort to reconcile with Iran would not harm Gulf Cooperation Council states, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the administration would focus on maintaining GCC security.

"I would like to take this opportunity to reassure all of our friends in the Gulf that we are not doing anything in our engagement with Iran that would come at the expense of the interests of our traditional friends and allies," Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman said.


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In a briefing on Oct. 8, Feltman, responsible for the Middle East, said GCC states would play a central role in any diplomatic process with Iran. Feltman, in a conference call from Washington, said Iran has taken positive steps over the last month regarding its nuclear program.

"We want to ensure that other regional governments understand what we are trying to do and second of all, we want to incorporate into our strategy the concerns of the regional governments — in particular their experiences," Feltman said. "Gulf governments have a rich history and experience of dealing with Iran that frankly we don't have, and there's a lot of wisdom that they can and are providing us with."

Officials acknowledged that GCC states have expressed increasing concern over the U.S. reconciliation policy with Teheran. They said GCC states have determined that Iran was using the U.S. initative to complete its nuclear weapons program.

In his briefing, Feltman said he expected that the administration would progress in talks with Iran. He said Washington has sought to launch direct talks with Teheran.

"There are certain benchmarks which Iran needs to achieve, and if there is constructive action by the Iranian government it will encourage the international community to continue in dialogue." Feltman said.

Officials said the proposed U.S.-led missile defense system for Europe would counter both Iranian long-term and short-term threats. They said the shield would be based on U.S. Navy Aegis-class cruisers armed with SM-3 missiles, with a ground-based component to be introduced at a later stage.

"It will be ready sooner to meet the threats that exist, but will evolve to include elements that will deal with longer-range Iranian missile threats that may emerge toward the end of the decade," Alexander Vershbow, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told another briefing on Oct. 8. "The recent Iranian missile tests have led the Russians to perhaps view the threats more along the lines we've been arguing along the years. Until recently, they’ve been minimizing the threat. Iran has tested missiles that can produce intermediate range missile and ultimately [intercontinental ballistic missiles]."



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