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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
US newspapers said the Obama administration is placing ships with missile-targeting capabilities off Iran's coast, and anti-missile systems in at least four Gulf states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The reported moves come amid stalemate over US-led diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"The United States commitment to its allies and its partners is evident," Sheikh Khalid told reporters, recalling a long history of security cooperation.
"We're not seeing anything new. Nobody is saber-rattling here. Nobody is being belligerent to anyone in the region," he said after a journalist referred to the reports of new anti-missile systems in the region.
"It's just a purely defensive measure for the benefit of the world, for the region being so important to the whole world," he added, referring to the biggest oil-exporting region in the world.
Bahrain's chief diplomat acknowledged security for the region "is being developed. It's being upgraded. New technology is coming in."
But he added: "We expect Iran not to see it as a measure being taken against it. This is a measure to protect. It's not a measure to attack."
In Tehran, Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani Tuesday slammed plans by the United States to beef up defenses in the Gulf against potential Iranian missile attacks, insisting the Islamic republic is no threat to its neighbors.
"America's new puppet show for protecting and implementing security in the region is nothing but a new political trick to pave the way for its presence at others' expense," Larijani said in comments carried by the state broadcaster.
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The reported moves come amid stalemate over US-led diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"The United States commitment to its allies and its partners is evident," Sheikh Khalid told reporters, recalling a long history of security cooperation.
"We're not seeing anything new. Nobody is saber-rattling here. Nobody is being belligerent to anyone in the region," he said after a journalist referred to the reports of new anti-missile systems in the region.
"It's just a purely defensive measure for the benefit of the world, for the region being so important to the whole world," he added, referring to the biggest oil-exporting region in the world.
Bahrain's chief diplomat acknowledged security for the region "is being developed. It's being upgraded. New technology is coming in."
But he added: "We expect Iran not to see it as a measure being taken against it. This is a measure to protect. It's not a measure to attack."
In Tehran, Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani Tuesday slammed plans by the United States to beef up defenses in the Gulf against potential Iranian missile attacks, insisting the Islamic republic is no threat to its neighbors.
"America's new puppet show for protecting and implementing security in the region is nothing but a new political trick to pave the way for its presence at others' expense," Larijani said in comments carried by the state broadcaster.
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