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Article: Iran Says U.S. Is Security Threat In Oil-Rich Persian Gulf Region
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- December 22, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The United States sees Iran as a powerful, ideologically
hostile country bent on dominating the strategically vital Persian
Gulf -- by subversion if possible, by force if necessary.
As it happens, Iran sees the United States in almost exactly
the same way.
In interviews here, Iranian officials voiced alarm at the
hefty U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, an area that Iran
has long considered vital to its national interests. They accused
the United States of raising tensions by appropriating funds to
destabilize Iran, conducting frequent military exercises and selling
huge quantities of arms to non-democratic, frequently hostile Arab
powers, such as Saudi Arabia.
They said ...