Blogs of War

DefSec Gates, speaking at the Manama Dialogue, reminds everyone that Iran presents a problem on many fronts:

Gates pointed to Iran’s activities that defense officials report have left many of its neighbors feeling threatened. “Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos, no matter the strategic value or the cost in the blood of innocents,” Gates said.

Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command and part of the U.S. delegation here, told reporters yesterday Iran’s meddling – from supplying weapons to insurgents in Iran and Afghanistan to its seizure in March of 15 British sailors – is destabilizing to the United States as well as the Persian Gulf region

“Their behavior has really been a problem, and to the extent that it destabilizes the region, which it does, then it becomes a problem for us,” he said. “Everything they’ve done publicly has been a problem.”

Gates said during a question-and-answer session following his address he’s “not confident” high-level dialogue between the United States and Iran would do any good in light of Iran’s inflammatory foreign policy. “Iran has to take some steps” for such a dialogue to be meaningful, he said.

Iran had been scheduled to send a delegation to the Manama Dialogue, but cancelled at the last minute.

In the meantime, Gates pointed to the international community as the only barrier to Iran re-starting its nuclear weapons program.

He urged Gulf-region leaders to pull together to demand that Iran “come clean” about past activities, suspend enrichment and openly affirm it has no plans to develop nuclear weapons. He also argued for them to demand inspections to make sure Iran lives up to its commitments and can’t restart its nuclear weapons program at a moment’s notice, or “at the whim of its most militant leaders.”

Gates pressed for the international community to “continue – and intensify – our economic, financial and diplomatic pressures on Iran to suspend enrichment.” He urged leaders to take the “peaceful but effective measures necessary to bring a long-term change of policies in Tehran.”

Asked if the United States is planning a military confrontation with Iran, Gates emphasized that the U.S. focus is “100 percent diplomatic and economic.”

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