UAE: Iranian President Ahmadinejad Ahmedinejad calls for US forces to leave the Gulf.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling for an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the Gulf during a visit to U.S. ally United Arab Emirates. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday (May 13) as part of a tour of the Gulf. Descending from his aircraft, he was greeted by leaders of the United Arab Emirates and stood shoulder to shoulder with U.S.-ally Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, president of the UAE as national anthems of both respective countries were played. After his meeting with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the semi-official Iranian Mehr news agency reported that the Iranian President called for an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the Gulf, saying that the departure of foreign troops coupled with cooperation between Iran and the UAE would lead to a peaceful Persian Gulf. Like Iran's other Gulf Arab neighbours, the UAE has expressed concern about non-Arab Iran's nuclear programme. The United States, which has a strong military presence in the Gulf, accuses Iran of seeking to make nuclear weapons and has sought tougher sanctions against Iran. Iran says it only wants to generate power to allow more oil exports. Abu Dhabi and Tehran have full diplomatic ties and strong trade links despite a three-decade dispute over three strategic islands in the Gulf, through which a third of the world's sea-borne crude oil supplies pass. The White House said on Sunday that U.S. and Iranian officials would meet in the next few weeks in Baghdad about security in Iraq, confirming a similar announcement by Tehran. The UAE said on Wednesday it would free 12 detained Iranian sailors in an apparent goodwill gesture on the eve of the visit. Iranian media said the commercial divers had been detained by the UAE north of the Gulf island of Abu Musa, one of three disputed islands that the UAE claims and which Iran controls. The divers were seeking to retrieve goods from a ship that sank on its way from Dubai to an Iranian port, media reported. Ahmedinejad's visit to the Middle-East comes as U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is set to conclude his own tour of the region. The latter who had visited Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Cairo, announced upon an embark on the USS Stennis on Friday (May 11), that the stationing of two carrier battle groups in the region demonstrated Washington's resolve in a stand-off with Iran over Tehran's nuclear plans.

ITN Source | May 13, 2007

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