By NNN-KUNA,
Manama : 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.