2 yıl önce

Iran: US-Israel security alliance pact will fuel regional tensions

Iran has condemned a plan by the US and Israel to form a joint defense pact with Arab states to counter Tehran, calling it a threat to regional security.

Reuters Archive

Reports of the plan come amid growing tensions between Iran and the US as the US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions against Iran last week.

Iran has decried a plan by the US and Israel to form a security alliance with Arab states to counter Tehran as "provocative," saying it will fuel regional tensions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, reacting to reports about the proposed plan, said on Saturday that Iran looks at it as "a threat to national and regional security."

He said the entry of foreigners in the region "will not lead to security and stability" but in turn "cause more tension and discord."

The remarks came in the wake of reports that the US and Israel are mulling over a joint defense pact with Arab states that would connect air defence systems to counter Iran's drone and missile attacks in the region, Reuters cited unnamed sources as saying on Friday.

The plan, it emphasised, would involve Israeli technology and is likely to gain momentum during US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to the region, including Israel.

The report, however, added that discussions are still "at an early stage" and that several Arab countries "who refuse to do business with Israel" have resisted the plan.

'Weapons cannot bring security to the region'

Taking strong exception to the plan, Kanaani said Iran has "always emphasised dialogue, participation, and regional co-operation" to ensure "security and common interests" of regional countries, without foreign presence.

He said the US-Israeli plan will "weaken regional security" and "secure the interests" of Israel.

He hastened to add that amassing weapons cannot bring security to the region and that the establishment of "common regional security" depends on the "co-operation of regional countries."

It comes amid growing tensions between Iran and the US, despite indirect talks between them, mediated by the European Union, to revive the 2015 nuclear deal resuming recently in Doha.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions against Iran, targeting an "international network of individuals and entities" that it said facilitated the sale of Iranian petroleum-based products to East Asia.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have also heightened since Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a missile attack on what it claimed was an Israeli base in Iraq's Erbil region in May, which came in response to an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two IRGC members.

In recent months, there have been many targeted killings in Iran, which were seen as linked to Israel and point to a growing shadow war between the two adversaries.

SOURCE: AA