Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a summit of Gulf Arab leaders on Monday that any security problem in one country would spill over to neighbouring states. "We welcome peace and complete security without outside influence," Ahmadinejad told the heads of the US-allied member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council in Doha, Qatar.
"Any security problem that could happen in one country will have a negative effect on the security of all countries," he said in the televised speech, in which he referred to the region as the Persian, not Arabian, Gulf. Iran is at loggerheads with the United States over its nuclear programme, which the West says is to make a nuclear bomb but Iran says is for energy purposes.
Washington has not ruled out the use of force if negotiation fails. In the two-day summit's opening speech, Qatar's ruler Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said the meeting was taking place amid "serious threats" to the region's prosperity and security.
Ahmadinehad also told the summit of Arab heads of state Tehran wanted to create an economic cooperation bloc and a joint security pact with them to promote peace and prosperity.
In a bid to increase ties with the Gulf, Ahmadinejad offered to share Iran's expertise in a range of fields, including "energy and the new technologies". Iran has in the past offered to help the Gulf with nuclear know-how.
Comments
Comments are closed.