US Plotting to Sow Discord between Iran, Arab States

(FNA)- Senior Military Aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi warned that the US military sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states are aimed at creating rift between Tehran and its Arab neighbors.

"These weapons are definitely not sold by the Americans to the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) countries to be used for fighting the Zionist regime, rather they sell these weapons to create problems between them and Iran," Rahim Safavi said, addressing a conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

He expressed the hope that the weapons sold to the Arab states would one day be seized by the Arab nations in the region and used against the Americans and the Zionist regime.

In relevant statements in December, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan reacted to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's remarks on increasing arms sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states, and said such comments disclose Washington's enhanced efforts to promote Iranophobia in the region.

"The US Defense Secretary’s explicit admission that they would sell more weapons to the Persian Gulf littoral states has revealed the goals of their Iranophobia project and shows that they are not thinking of regional security, and are rather seeking to provide their interests and save their crisis-hit economy,” Dehqan said.

“We advise the friendly and brotherly countries in the Persian Gulf to keep vigilant and watch out not to be trapped by the US military's psychological war,” he added.

“Sustainable security in the region can be achieved in light of good neighborliness, constructive interaction and joint cooperation, relying on trust and distancing from suspicion,” Dehqan underlined.