U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY FAULTS IRAN’S ‘NEGATIVE’ ACTIONS IN MIDEAST

U.S. Defense SECRETARY FAULTS IRAN’S ‘NEGATIVE’ ACTIONS IN MIDEAST

KABUL: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that Iran was "acting in a very negative way" in the Middle East and that the United States was building up its forces to demonstrate its resolve to remain in the Gulf."The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative, that they're in a position to press us in many ways," Gates said, speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels before flying here. "We are simply trying to communicate to the region that we are going to be there for a long time."Delivering that message to Iran — and to allies in the region worried that Washington is consumed with stabilizing Iraq — is one of Gates's priorities on a trip to the region this week that will take him later to the Gulf.

Senior defense officials said they also planned to stress to the largely Sunni Arab governments worried about Iran that must also assist the United States in Iraq with reconstruction aid and with putting pressure on fellow Sunnis to reach political reconciliation.President George W. Bush announced last week, in his speech laying out his new Iraq strategy, that he was also sending a second aircraft carrier and several Patriot anti-missile batteries to the Gulf."The United States has had a strong presence in the Gulf for a long time," Gates said. "We are simply reaffirming that" with the buildup."In Afghanistan, he is expected to meet with President Hamid Karzai and with American and NATO commanders. There are about 23,000 America troops in Afghanistan, 11,000 of whom are under NATO command. Other NATO countries are supplying 20,000 soldiers.In a stop at NATO headquarters in Brussels before flying to Kabul, Gates said he had discussed the surge in Taliban attacks over the past year, especially in the south, with NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Gates said there were "indications that the Taliban were planning a large spring offensive.

Though Gates's trip this week to Europe and the Middle East is largely intended to explain the new White House plan to stabilize Iraq, he is also dealing with Iran.As part of its review of Iraq strategy announced last week, the Bush administration rejected a proposal by the Iraq Study Group to resume diplomatic contacts with Iran. Gates, who endorsed resuming diplomatic contacts with Iran in 2004, two years before he joined the Bush administration, said that Iran's behavior had worsened since then and that diplomatic discussions would be possible only when Iran was "prepared to play a constructive role in dealing with some of these problems."Gates said that Iran "was doing nothing to be helpful" in Iraq, where the American military has conducted two operations that resulted in the arrest of Iranians who the United States said were suspected of involvement in providing bomb-making materials.He also criticized Iran for aiding Hezbollah in Lebanon.Bush administration officials have also sought to rally international pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, which the White House has said it aimed at producing nuclear weapons.