WASHINGTON, May 1, (AFP): The United States has deployed sophisticated F-22 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates amid deepening tensions between Iran and its pro-US neighbors, officials said Monday.
The US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not say how many F-22s would be sent to the Al-Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. Military officers tend to avoid publicly discussing details of operations at the US air base.
An Air Force spokeswoman confirmed that a number of F-22 Raptors, the most advanced fighter in the US fleet, would be deployed to the region without mentioning the base or Iran.
“The United States Air Force has deployed F-22s to Southwest Asia. Such deployments strengthen military-to-military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations, and enhance interoperability of forces, equipment and procedures,” said Major Mary Danner-Jones.
Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters the move “was a very normal deployment” in keeping with an adjustment of US forces in the region following the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
Territorial disputes between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over three islands in the Gulf have flared recently, with Washington voicing support for Abu Dhabi’s stance.
The argument over the Gulf islands comes against the backdrop of tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, with the US, European and Israeli governments fearing Tehran is pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons project.
Iran’s atomic ambitions and growing missile arsenal have raised concerns in Gulf Arab states, which have negotiated arms deals with Washington to build up missile defenses as a counter to Iran.
In December, the United States announced a $3.48 billion arms sale with the United Arab Emirates for missile defense batteries and radars.
The United States’ deployment of cutting-edge F-22 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates “will endanger the region’s security,” Iran warned on Tuesday.
“We do not in any way approve the presence of foreign forces in the region. We advise the regional countries against providing a basis for their presence,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
His comment reinforced criticism voiced on Monday by Defence Minister Ahmad Vahid, who was quoted by the Al-Alam channel as saying: “Such deployments in the region are both harmful and useless. They are mostly done to create a psychological trend and a sense of insecurity in the region.”
Mehmanparast said in his briefing: “Regional countries should resort to collective cooperation to ensure their security. Seeking foreign countries or their equipment not only will not provide security but will endanger the region’s security.”
Vahadi likewise said Gulf countries should cooperate on security, and was quoted as saying: “The presence of foreign forces in the region will only complicate the situation further and lead to insecurity.”
Diplomat
Japan’s top diplomat on Tuesday reiterated Tokyo’s concern over a strike on Iran’s nuclear programme in an interview published as he began a two-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“Japan is very concerned over the Iranian nuclear issue,” Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily, in remarks translated into Hebrew.
“The international community, including Japan, is putting unprecedented pressure on Iran, and the renewal of talks between the world powers and Iran is a result of this pressure,” he said.
Six world powers, known as the P5+1 grouping of diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, held a first round of talks with Iran over its contested nuclear programme in Istanbul last month, with a second round due to take place in Baghdad on May 23.
Israel says a nuclear Iran would constitute an existential threat to the Jewish state and has not ruled out a pre-emptive strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“The military option will not only give Iran an excuse to expedite its nuclear programme, but could also increase the instability in the region, which would threaten Israel,” Gemba warned.
The minister’s remarks reiterated concerns that both he and Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had raised in mid-February during a visit to Tokyo by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
At the time, Noda warned that military action could be “extremely dangerous” as it risks “escalating” the current situation.
And Gemba raised similar concerns, saying: “Using a military option would not only provide an excuse to Iran but could unite the Arab world against Israel.”
On Monday evening, Barak said he had little confidence that the P5+1 talks would succeed in resolving the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“The P5+1 engagement with Iran, however, does not fill me with confidence. I may sound pessimistic but the state of Israel cannot afford to be duped,” he told reporters at a Foreign Press Association meeting in Jerusalem.
He said that “all options to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons” were on the table, although he admitted that the military option would be “complicated.”
“But a nuclear Islamic Republic of Iran would be far more dangerous,” he said.
Gemba arrived in Israel around midday for a two-day visit, which will see him meeting his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday he was to meet senior Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The UN Security Council has slapped four rounds of sanctions on Tehran over suspicions harboured by Israel and much of the West that Iran is seeking a militarised nuclear capability — a charge which Tehran denies.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday rejected a call by a US anti-Iran group for it to cut its relations with Tehran’s central bank in order to adhere to US and European sanctions.
The IMF said its account with Bank Markazi is simply related to Iran’s membership in the IMF and does not contravene sanctions placed on Tehran to pressure it not to develop nuclear weapons.
The advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, a group of US ex-diplomats and government officials, said that the IMF needed to shut down its account with Bank Markazi, a specific target of the sanctions, or suspend Iran’s membership in the fund.
It also criticized the IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, for meeting with Bank Markazi’s chief during the IMF’s spring meeting last month in Washington, and for allegedly “lavishing praise on Iran and Bank Markazi.”
“The IMF must also stop treating the Iranian regime like a responsible government in good standing at a time when the international community is trying to isolate it.”
But IMF spokesman William Murray said the IMF’s account at Iran’s central bank is simply there to hold the Iranian funds committed to the IMF as an obligation of its membership in the crisis lender.
“According to our constitution... the IMF’s holdings of each member’s currency are maintained with the central bank of the relevant member, including Iran,” Murray said.
“There is nothing in the EU or US sanctions regimes that is inconsistent with these arrangements.”
Adviser
Israel’s National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror is holding talks with European officials ahead of the next round of talks over Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The report, in the left-leaning Haaretz daily, said Amidror’s trip was linked to Israeli concerns that the talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers could ultimately end with a deal that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium.
Israeli officials refused to comment on the report.
Haaretz said Amidror arrived in Brussels on Monday and held talks with Helga Schmid, the EU deputy secretary general for political affairs, who is responsible for preparatory talks with Iran ahead of the Baghdad meeting.
Amidror was expected to travel on Wednesday to Berlin where he was to meet top German officials, among them Hans-Dieter Lucas, Germany’s representative to the Iran talks, the paper said.
Two weeks ago, Amidror was in Moscow for similar talks and met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Haaretz said.
Reciprocal
Iran said on Tuesday it may take “reciprocal action” over a decision by Canada to shut the visa section in its Tehran embassy used by thousands of Iranians.
“They have said that the decision was based on cost-cutting measures... but we will follow any action that causes trouble for our citizens,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in his weekly briefing.
“If anyone takes action against our national interest, we will take reciprocal action,” he said.
Canada’s embassy announced on Sunday via a link on its official website that it had closed its visa section as part of an effort to operate “more effectively and efficiently.”
It said all visa services had been transferred to the Canadian embassy in Ankara, the capital of neighbouring Turkey.
The move has angered many Iranians who had been planning to apply for tourist or immigration visas to Canada, with several expressing their discontent on Twitter and other social media.
There are more than 120,000 people of Iranian origin or descent living in Canada, according to official 2006 census data, with thousands of their relatives in Iran visiting them every year.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hassan Ghashghavi, said last week — before Canada’s announcement — that Tehran was poised to open an extra consulate in Canada to supplement the work done by its Ottawa embassy.
Iran was also looking at opening new consulates in Afghanistan, China and Sweden, he said, according to media.