priceless....

Rice unveils arms deals to counter Iran
By Daniel Dombey in London and agencies

Published: July 30 2007 19:55 | Last updated: July 30 2007 19:55

Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, on Monday unveiled a series of multi-billion-dollar military agreements that Washington hopes will help stabilise the Middle East and counteract the rise of Iran.

Among the deals – which will need to be approved by Congress – are a 10-year, $30bn (€22bn, £15bn) military assistance agreement with Israel and a similar $13bn pact with Egypt.

Speaking before travelling to the region with Robert Gates, US defence secretary, Ms Rice also confirmed that she would discuss an arms package with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.

She gave no figure for how much the Gulf arms deal would be worth. But officials have said it could total $20bn over 10 years and would upgrade Saudi Arabia’s missile defences and air force while increasing its naval capabilities.

“This effort will help bolster forces of moderation and support a broader strategy to counter the negative influences of al-Qaeda, Hizbollah, Syria and Iran,” Ms Rice said.

But some members of the US Congress are likely to oppose the deal with Saudi Arabia because of the country’s perceived reluctance to support the government of Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, and congressional concern that Saudi officials have been complicit in the cross-border movement of Sunni extremists into Iraq.

The Bush administration hopes the prospective arms deals will encourage some of the Sunni governments in the region to overcome their suspicion of Mr Maliki, a Shia. “It is very important that the Sunni Arab neighbours do not read into Iraq an endless . . . Arab-Persian struggle,” a senior state department official said last week, referring to the propensity of some Sunni Arab officials to bracket Iraq’s Shia majority with Iran.

But Iran accused the US of seeking to create fear and cause divisions in the Middle East by announcing the military deals.

“America has always considered one policy in this region and that is creating fear and concerns in the countries of the region and trying to harm the good relations between these countries,” said Iran’s foreign ministry.



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