Iran Military Developments

[bhramos]

Iran, Russia to Hold Joint Naval Exercise

Iran, Russia to Hold Joint Naval Exercise

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Russia are scheduled to hold a joint maritime exercise in the Caspian Sea on July 28-29, an Iranian official said on Sunday.
Managing Director of Iran's Ports and Shipping Organization Taheri Motlaq said that the maneuver, due to be held in the northern Iranian port city of Bandar-e-Anzali, is aimed at enhancing the safety of transportation in the Caspian Sea.

Taheri Motlaq was quoted by the Islamic republic news agency as saying that the exercise will be held within the framework of international conventions such as those on the prevention of sea pollution.

According to the official, the exercise will be dubbed as "Regional Interaction, Key to Safe and Clean Caspian Sea".

"Over 30 modern vessels and two helicopters will take part in the exercise," he added.


Fars News Agency :: Iran, Russia to Hold Joint Naval Exercise

NAVAL VESSELS FOR NON-MILITARY EXERCISE???

 

[1.44]

Iran calls on Arabs to send volunteers if Israel attacks Lebanon

Mottoki Calls on Arabs to Send Volunteers if Lebanon is Attacked By Israel​

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called on the Arabs to send volunteers to Lebanon in case Israel attacks it.
"The Lebanese people lately have been talking about the possibility of another aggression launched by the Zionist entity [Israel] on Lebanon. [This] despite the remote possibility that the leaders of this entity would not even consider an aggression following their defeat suffered two years ago in Lebanon and Gaza afterwards," Mottaki said Friday.

"Hence, I propose that the Arab states that did not take the necessary steps during the past aggression on Lebanon to make their volunteers fully available for Lebanon," he said.

He went on to attack the United Kingdom saying its actions and behavior with all issues related to the recent Iranian presidential elections "are all categorized with enmity and interference." He pointed that British interference has "failed."

He also accused other states of "training people through their satellite television channels how to erupt disturbances, manufacture explosives and create tensions."

"The test for the western states was not good, they failed once again in [dealing] with our regional issues," said Mottaki adding that such states have interfered with all their capabilities "openly and covertly" to influence the outcome of Iranian presidential elections.


Beirut, 31 Jul 09, 20:41

Naharnet News Desk

 

[Pintu]

The Press Association: Three Americans arrested in Iran

Three Americans arrested in Iran

(UKPA) – 1 hour ago

Iran's state owned Arabic-language al-Alam TV station confirmed that three US citizens were arrested after crossing the border from Iraq.

The report quoted a "well-informed source" in the Interior Ministry that the three Americans were detained on Friday after crossing into Iran's Kurdistan province.

The report said the Americans were arrested after they refused to heed warnings from border guards.

Iraq's Kurdish regional government's envoy to Washington, Qubad Talabani, told The Associated Press the three were tourists and mistakenly crossed into Iranian territory at the border town of Ahmed Awaa.

 

[Pintu]

AFP: Iran confirms 3 Americans arrested near Iraq border

Iran confirms 3 Americans arrested near Iraq border

By Farhad Pouladi (AFP) – 5 hours ago

TEHRAN — Iran has arrested three Americans who "infiltrated" through the border with Iraq, state-owned Al-Alam television said on Saturday, as another official channel said they were military personnel.

"An informed Iranian source confirmed the arrest of three Americans after they infiltrated through the Iraqi border," the Arabic-language Al-Alam station reported.

In northern Iraq, a Kurdish official said earlier that three US backpackers were arrested after having been warned on the Iraqi side not to hike in the mountains because of the proximity of the border with Iran.

Beshro Ahmed, media adviser for general security in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, said the two men and a woman had entered from Turkey earlier along with a fourth American who did not join the trek because he was ill.

According to CNN, Iran detained the three US nationals on Friday after they crossed into the country from Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ahmed named the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel, while Shaun Gabriel Maxwell stayed behind in their hotel in the Kurdish region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah.

"On Thursday, three of them went to the summer resort at Ahmed Awa," Ahmed said of an area about 90 kilometres (55 miles) northeast of Sulaimaniyah.

The mountainous region has several youth hostels, one of which the three American nationals stayed at, but the nearby border with Iran is not clearly marked.

"The (Kurdish) tourist police in the area asked them not to climb the mountains because the Iranian border was very close," Ahmed said.

"On Friday, they went close to the mountains, and climbed them. Then they called their friend in the hotel telling him that they were arrested by Iranian forces at the border," Ahmed said.

"Shaun was in the hotel and he called the US embassy in Iraq to tell them about this information, and the Americans came to the hotel and took him."

Speaking to AFP earlier, a US embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad said: "We've seen the reports and are looking into it but can't confirm anything at this time."

Asked if Shaun Maxwell was in US hands, she said: "For privacy considerations, we're unable to confirm the whereabouts of any one private individual."

Iranian state television, without quoting a source, said on an earlier Saturday news bulletin that three US military personnel had gone missing near the border.

"Three US military personnel went missing in an area bordering Iran-Iraq," the announcer said.

"The reason for the presence of these American soldiers is not known. The Western media, in the past few days, extensively propagated that these three US personnel have been kidnapped."

But an official at the Pentagon in Washington has insisted no US military personnel were involved.

US-Iran tensions have been high for years, with the Islamic republic deriding the United States as the "Great Satan" and President Barack Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, labelling Tehran part of an "axis of evil."

The acrimony has increased as Washington, despite Obama offering Tehran a chance to turn the page, has expressed mounting concern over Iranian nuclear ambitions and its disputed June presidential election.

 

[Pintu]

US probing report of Americans detained in Iran | Markets | Reuters

US probing report of Americans detained in Iran
Sat Aug 1, 2009 7:45pm IST

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is investigating reports that Iran had arrested three American tourists near the border with Iraq, a spokeswoman said on Saturday.

"We are using all available means to determine the facts in this case," State Department spokeswoman Megan Mattson said. "The safety and security of American citizens remains the U.S. government's top priority. We take all detention cases very seriously."

Iran's al-Alam television station reported that three American tourists were arrested near the border of Iraq after entering Iran.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bill Trott)

 

[Yusuf]

Us strike on iran 'feasible and credible'

US strike on Iran 'feasible and credible' : RICHMARK SENTINEL

A devastating US military strike against Iran's nuclear and
military facilities "is a technically feasible and credible
option," a retired general asserted in an article published on
Friday.

Retired air force general Charles Wald, a former deputy
commander of US forces in Europe, said US policy makers must
prepare for a "Plan B," including the military's role, should
diplomacy fail.

"A peaceful resolution of the threat posed by Iran's nuclear
ambitions would certainly be the best possible outcome," Wald wrote
in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

"But should diplomacy and economic pressure fail, a US military
strike against Iran is a technically feasible and credible option,"
he said.

Wald's views were in striking contrast with those of the
Pentagon's top civilian and military leaders, who have warned
repeatedly that military action against Iran would be highly
destabilizing.

President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has sought to engage Iran
diplomatically, but prospects of a breakthrough have been clouded
by political turmoil in Iran over President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's
disputed re-election.

"Many policy makers and journalists dismiss the military option
on the basis of a false sense of futility," Wald wrote.

"They assume that the US military is already overstretched, that
we lack adequate intelligence about the location of covert nuclear
sites, and that known sites are too heavily fortified," he said.

"Such assumptions are false," he said.

Wald argued that serious military preparations for a strike
could in themselves help persuade Iran to end its nuclear defiance
"without firing a single shot."

Pressure could be applied by deploying additional aircraft
carrier battle groups and minesweepers to waters off Iran and
conducting military exercises with allies, he said.

If that failed, he said, the US Navy could blockade Iran's Gulf
ports, cutting off gasoline imports that constitute a third the
country's domestic consumption.

"Should these measures not compel Tehran to reverse course on
its nuclear program, and only after all other diplomatic avenues
and economic pressures have been exhausted, the US military is
capable of launching a devastating attack on Iranian nuclear and
military facilities," he wrote.

Wald acknowledged there were "huge risks to military action,"
including that Iranians would rally around "an unstable and
oppressive regime" and that reprisals and regional unrest would
follow.

"Furthermore, while a successful bombing campaign would set back
Iranian nuclear development, Iran would undoubtedly retain its
nuclear know how," he said.

"But the risks of military action must be weighed against those
of doing nothing," he said.

 

[Ratus Ratus]

Definitely out of alinement

Wald's views were in striking contrast with those of the Pentagon's top civilian and military leaders

the Pentagon's top civilian and military leaders, who have warned repeatedly that military action against Iran would be highly destabilizing.
.....
Wald acknowledged there were "huge risks to military action," including that Iranians would rally around "an unstable and oppressive regime" and that reprisals and regional unrest would follow.

Are we all on the same wavelength on this as it seems Wald is just saying what Pentagon’s top people are saying, but using different words?

I thought the US was already doing a cleanup of miscreants and a dab of nation rebuilding. Wald seems to say lets make more to clean up.

Why should the US do it and gain further antagonistic attitudes from the region when the Israelis said they will do it for free.

Or is Wald saying that the Israelis actually don’t have the ability?

 

[1.44]

Medvedev: I'll review decision to sell Iran anti-aircraft missiles

Medvedev: I'll review decision to sell Iran anti-aircraft missiles
​

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised President Shimon Peres Tuesday that Russia will review a decision to sell Iran S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.

Peres told his Russian counterpart that a Iranian nuclear weapon would be a "flying death camp." The two leaders met in the Russian president's summer residence in the Black Sea town of Sochi.

Peres had also asked Medvedev to assist in the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit by pressuring Syrian and Hamas leadership in Damascus. Medvedev responded by offering resources, including engaging its intelligence and diplomatic corps in efforts to secure Shalit's release.
Peres brought up an agreement which had been signed between Russia and Iran on the sale of several S-300 anti-aircraft systems. Peres asked that the Russian government not carry out the deal, saying that it would violate the "delicate balance" of power in the entire region.

He added that Israel has "clear proof that Russian weapons reach the hands of terrorist organizations, especially Hamas and Hezbollah, which receive them from Iran and Syria."

Medvedev noted that Russia opposed selling weapons that violate the "delicate Middle East balance", and that it had no intention of changing this policy.

Peres argued to the Russian president that everything must be done to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"A large part of my family was killed by the Nazis in Belarus," Peres said. "I can't just sit there when I hear the statements of an Iranian president calling to eliminate the State of Israel. As far as I'm concerned, a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands means only one thing - it's a flying death camp."

"I'm not saying he'll do it tomorrow morning, but there's no certainty such an attack won't happen," Peres said. "The fact that Iran invests billions of dollars in developing long-range ballistic missiles while developing their nuclear program is a very clear indication of its intentions."

Russia opposes nuclear Iran

The Russian president said that Russia opposed nuclear weapon capability in the hands of Tehran.

"We are all concerned by this situation, and we have no doubt that if Iran gets nuclear weapons it'll lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which is a very bad scenario," he said.

Medvedev also referred to negotiations between Israel and Syria, saying he believed Syrian president Bashar Assad was ready for direct peace talks with Israel. Peres responded that Israel is ready to engage in direct talks with Syria without preconditions, so long as Damascus stops supporting Palestinian terrorist organizations and Hezbollah.

Peres also slammed the denial of the Holocaust by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a disgrace for the entire Iranian people.

Peres said that although Ahmadinejad had on several occasions denied the mass murder of European Jews by the Nazis, the Israeli leader had hopes for peace between Israel and Iran.

Medvedev: I'll review decision to sell Iran anti-aircraft missiles - Haaretz - Israel News

 

[A.V.]

Medvedev noted that Russia opposed selling weapons that violate the "delicate Middle East balance", and that it had no intention of changing this policy.

good stance, especially when israel and russia are closer than ever before now, but business is business and the russians have finally learnt it

 

[ahmedsid]

Iran improves access to nuke activities

Diplomats: Iran improves access to nuke activities

VIENNA – Diplomats say Iran has lifted a ban and allowed U.N. inspectors to visit a nearly completed nuclear reactor as well as granting greater monitoring rights at another atomic site.

The diplomats say International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors visited the nearly finished Arak heavy water reactor last week after a yearlong ban. Separately, they say Iran agreed last week to IAEA requests to expand its monitoring of the Arak uranium enrichment site. It produces material for nuclear fuel that can be further enriched to provide fissile material for warheads.

The diplomats demanded anonymity Thursday because their information was confidential.

 

[I-G]

Iran missile said to pose Europe threat in 3-4 years

Iran missile said to pose Europe threat in 3-4 years
Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:53pm EDT
By Jim Wolf

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Reuters) - Iran could have the ability to strike most of Europe with a ballistic missile within three or four years if it made an all-out push, the former head of Israel's missile defense program said on Thursday.

If correct, the timeline cited by Uzi Rubin, a leading authority on Iran's program, puts a fresh note of urgency into a diplomatically thorny debate over building a multibillion-dollar anti-missile shield in Europe.

U.S. officials have cast the timeline further out, leaving longer to sort out defenses.

"If they push it -- put all the budget, put all the engineers -- three or four years" is all it would take to give Iran's existing ballistic missile a range of 3,900 kilometers (2,438 miles), enough to hit London, Rubin told a U.S. Army-sponsored missile-defense conference in Huntsville, Alabama. "Will they do it? I'm not sure."

The U.S. Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in a report made public in June that Iran, with support from outside sources, could produce an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States within six years.

"Iran has ambitious ballistic missile and space launch development programs and, with sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could develop and test an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015," the report said.

BREAKTHROUGH

Rubin said Iran had achieved "a technological and strategic breakthrough" with its Sejjil, a two-stage, solid propellant missile. On May 20, Iran test-fired the Sejjil 2, which is said by Tehran to have a range of about 2,000 kilometers.

"Based on its demonstrated achievement in solid propulsion and staging, Iran will face no technological challenges" in close to doubling its range with a one-ton warhead, said Rubin, who oversaw development of Israel's Arrow anti-missile system while running the Jewish state's missile defense effort from 1991 to 1999.

"The predictions (about Iran's growing missile reach) are coming true, perhaps sooner than anyone thought," he added in reply to a question after a presentation. "I think there was an underestimation of Iranian capability."

By contrast, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles by countries like Iran and North Korea was taking longer than the United States had predicted.

Cartwright's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

David Wright, a leading missile-defense critic, said the timeline advanced by Rubin "doesn't sound crazy if Iran poured resources into it."

"But there is a lot we don't know about the program, and technical problems could stretch out the time," said Wright, senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent research group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Fitting any nuclear warhead to a missile is likely to take Iran six years or longer, experts agree.

At the conference in Huntsville, Boeing Co unveiled a proposal to build a mobile interceptor missile in an effort to blunt Russian opposition to Bush-era plans to install interceptors in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.

Raytheon Co, the world's biggest missile maker, said it was developing a land-based version of its existing Standard Missile-3, a star of U.S. missile defense from the sea, that could be used to defend Europe, Israel and elsewhere.

Iran missile said to pose Europe threat in 3-4 years | International | Reuters

 

[1.44]

Iran allocates $20m to expose US 'rights violations'

Iran allocates $20m to expose US 'rights violations'
​

A majority of Iranian lawmakers have approved a bill that will fund a program intended to expose “breaches of human rights” in the US.

In a vote on Sunday, the parliamentarians voted by a margin of 189 to 21 to pass the bill which will allocate $20 million toward the efforts, reported the Iranian Labor News Agency.

"The Americans have repeatedly approved measures to assist Iranian opposition, especially recently [they approved] a $55-million allocation by the US Senate," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who head the influential Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

The new law consists of a single article, which stipulates: "To counter the unfair restrictions imposed by the United States and other Western powers in the arena of information technology, and in order to expose the numerous and increasing instances of breaches of human rights and to defend legal trends that stand against that country's methods, the sum of $20 million is allocated from the currency reserves fund."

In defending the measure, Boroujerdi called it "necessary" and said: "We must respond in kind to America's injustice and tyranny and the interference of this country against Iran."

“With the allocation of this budget,” the senior lawmaker said. “We will show to the world that Iran's Majlis is active as a defender of the rights of the nation in the face of US greed.”
Iran allocates $20m to expose US 'rights violations'

 

[Officer of Engineers]

Let me guess. Some just look up the ACLU website and then proceed to pocket $20mil. Why don't I ever find jobs like that?

 

[sky]

didnt iran host a holocaust denial exhibition a while back,what about the human rights violations that happened to the jews.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Iran's Sejil missile 'threatens Europe'

Iran's Sejil missile 'threatens Europe'

Iran's Sejil missile 'threatens Europe'


by Staff Writers
Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Aug 25, 2009
Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel's ballistic missile defense program, says Iran has made a "technological and strategic breakthrough" with its Sejil-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which will be able to hit a swathe of European states in three to four years.
That assertion, initially made to Jane's Defense Weekly and reiterated at a U.S. Army-sponsored missile defense conference in Huntsville, Ala., on Aug. 20, intensified concerns that Iran has stepped up its drive to acquire ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

On the face of it, Rubin's comments gave weight to Israeli fears that Iran will soon pose an existential threat to the Jewish state.

Israeli leaders have been pressing the United States to take firmer action to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons and have suggested unilateral pre-emptive strikes if something is not done soon to curb Tehran.

Rubin masterminded the development of Israel's Arrow anti-missile system, the top layer of the country's emerging multilayered missile defense shield, from 1991 to 1999.

He said that the two-stage Sejil-2 has an estimated range of 1,560 miles, not 1,250 miles as previously thought, and that the successful testing of a solid-fueled missile on May 20 was a major breakthrough for Iran.

This was because unlike the Shehab-3, Iran's operational ballistic missile already deployed with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Sejil uses solid propellant rather than the less reliable liquid fuel. It is the first Iranian missile to do so, opening the door for more advanced technology.

Rubin did not specifically say that the Iranians would have produced a nuclear warhead for the Sejil-2 in the timeframe he cited. But Israeli officials have claimed that Tehran could produce a nuclear warhead within a year once Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gives the go-ahead.

In May, 12 prominent U.S. and Russian analysts gave a different view in a report issued by the EastWest Institute, a New York-based think tank that monitors global security issues.

The report said it would take Iran six to eight years to develop a ballistic missile with a 460-pound conventional warhead and a range of 1,250 miles, and six years to develop a nuclear warhead.

The U.S. Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in a June report that Iran, even with help from foreign sources, would need six years to produce an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

"Based on its demonstrated achievement in solid propulsion and staging, Iran will face no technological challenges" in doubling the Sejil's range with a 1-ton warhead, Rubin told the Huntsville conference.

"If they push it -- put all the budget, put all the engineers -- three or four years" is all it would take to give the Sejil a range of around 2,500 miles, enough to hit London. "Will they do it? I'm not sure."

But he noted that the predictions about Iran's ever-growing missile reach "are coming true, perhaps sooner than anyone thought. Â… I think there was an underestimation of Iranian capability."

Rubin's conclusions would appear to inject a new urgency in U.S. efforts to install a fixed missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to protect the United States, a proposal that has drawn vehement objections from Moscow.

In that regard, on Aug. 20 the Boeing Co. came up with a novel system that may overcome Russian opposition to U.S. missile installations on its doorstep: 10 47,500-pound mobile interceptors that could be airlifted in giant Boeing C-17 transports to temporary launch sites and then flown back to the United States when no longer required.

 

[1.44]

Israeli strike on Iran's nuke plan 'imminent': Report

Israeli strike on Iran's nuke plan 'imminent': Report
​

Los Angeles: If Iran does not accept international proposals to roll back its nuclear programme by next month, it faces an imminent Israeli strike, a newspaper article said.

In an opinion piece on Sunday authored by Micah Zenko who is a political scientist with expertise in national security issues, the Los Angeles Times said Israel will act alone to stop the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon.
Under the proposals, Iran should suspend its uranium enrichment programme in exchange for a UN Security Council commitment to forgo a fourth round of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Quoting Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the newspaper said, "The window between a strike on Iran and their getting nuclear weapons is a pretty narrow window."

However, if Iran does not budge, Israel would attack its suspected nuclear weapons facilities without even informing the US, the newspaper said.

President Obama will learn about the operation from CNN rather than the CIA and Israel would rather explain later than ask for approval in advance of launching pre-emptive attacks, the newspaper said.

Those hoping that the Obama administration will be able to pressure Israel to stand down from attacking Iran as diplomatic efforts drag on are mistaken, the LA Times said.

It said Israel never informed the US before carrying out such four major military operations in the past.

In October 1956, Israel, with Britain and France, attacked Egypt to take control of the Suez Canal. But the then Israel envoy Abba Eban never gave any hint of the impending attack to US secretary of state John Foster Dulles who had grilled the envoy just a day before about Israel's military build-up on the border with Egypt.

In June 1967, Israel started the Six-Day War without informing Washington, despite president Johnson's insistence that Israel consult with him before taking action.

On June 7, 1981, Israel never informed the US when it destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak just before it was to be fuelled to develop the capacity to make nuclear weapons-grade plutonium.

The then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had called the attack "a precedent for every future government in Israel... Every future Israeli Prime Minister will act, in similar circumstances, in the same way," the newspaper said.

Again in September 2007, Israeli aircraft destroyed a North Korean-supplied plutonium reactor in Al Kibar, Syria, without informing the US.

These episodes demonstrate that if Israel sees Iranian nuclear weapons an existential threat "it will be deaf to entreaties from US officials to refrain from using military force", the newspaper said.

Bureau Report Israeli strike on Iran`s nuke plan `imminent`: Report

 

[Daredevil]

We have been hearing this for like almost one year. I don't think it will be easy for Israel to take out Iran nuke plants that easily unless they do something out of the box.

 

[jaganpjames]

Isreal doesnt have to do anything out of box.. just go ahead with the plan, which they have already planned, and America will have to react for any response from Iran .. americans wont have an option but to open another front on the ongoing war or terror, which they dont want at this point in time.

Then there is the logistic problem for Israel to attack Iran, they will have to overfly 2 or 3 countries airspace. Irans response will be block the gulf thereby blocking the oil transport.. which will drag the americans into conflict.

Isreal will attack Iran at the time and choice they decide. may be with in the next few months, may be in the next few year. but for sure before Iran will be any where near to make a n bomb.

 

[F-14]

this kind of news gives me nightmares because i live in the persian gulf loitter region

 

[Singh]

Gates urges Arabs to strengthen military ties with eye to Iran

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged US allies in the Arab world to strengthen their military capabilities and defense cooperation with Washington as a means of pressuring Iran to back off its nuclear program.

In an interview with Al Jazeera that was to be aired Monday, Gates said the United States still favored diplomatic and economic approaches to the challenges posed by Iran and its nuclear program.

But, according to a transcript of the interview, Gates said "one of the pathways to get the Iranians to change their approach on the nuclear issue is to persuade them that moving down that path will actually jeopardize their security, not enhance it.

"So the more that our Arab friends and allies can strengthen their security capabilities, the more they can strengthen their co-operation, both with each other and with us, I think sends the signal to the Iranians that this path they're on is not going to advance Iranian security but in fact could weaken it," he said.

Gates said he did not know how much US arms sales to the region now totalled, but disputed a 100 billion figure cited by Al-Jazeera as sounding "very high to me."

The defense secretary also questioned whether Iran had gained lasting clout in Iraq, and by extension in the region, as a result of the 2003 US invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and brought the country's Shiite majority to power.

"I think that a strong and democratic Iraq, particularly one with a multi-sectarian government, becomes a barrier to Iranian influence and not a bridge for it," he said.

"So I think, in the short term, perhaps Iran's position was strengthened somewhat but I think if you look to the longer term, and the role that Iraq can play in the region going forward, I think that Iran's position may well be diminished," he said.

He said Iraq's leaders were "first and foremost Iraqis."

"After all none of them have forgotten the eight years of war that they fought with Saddam Hussein and they haven't forgotten that Saddam Hussein started that war," he said.

His comments appeared the same day the outgoing chief of International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, complained of an "impasse" with Iran over its nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier said Iran was preparing a package of proposals for resumed talks with six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

But he said Iran would not negotiate on its "undeniable" nuclear rights.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Iran had not communicated with the White House about its plans to resume talks.

AFP: Gates urges Arabs to strengthen military ties with eye to Iran