Iran 'biggest threat to Mid-East'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Iran poses the biggest threat to US Middle East interests, as she begins a major regional tour.

Ms Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates are meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab ministers at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The tour is aimed at uniting US allies against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.

It is also trying to win support for a Mid-East peace conference planned for later this year, correspondents say.

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"The United States is determined to assure our allies that we are going to be reliable in helping them to meet their security needs. We have a lot of interests in common in this region: in the fight against terrorism and extremism; in protecting the gains of peace processes of the past and in extending those gains to peace processes of the future," she said.

Earlier, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini accused the US of tarnishing good relations between countries in the region.

Iran's nuclear programme and influence among Shia Muslim militant groups have long been sources of US concern.

Available ate: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6923430.stm


So, while not diminishing the tension and instability that the Iran nuclear program causes, I think it is a bit hypocritical for the US to say that Iran is the biggest threat to Middle East security. Does Condi mean to say that they are the biggest threat "now that we have destabilized the region?" The biggest threat "after us?" Sure, Iran funds Hezbolla and other groups in the region that attempt to destabilize Israel and Iraq, but we have CIA operatives in Iran and throughout the region. We also initiated wars against two countries in the region and are getting ready to sell billions of dollars of arms to Iran's rivals in the region. So, who is destabilizing and endangering the region?