12 December 2009: Gulf News
By Habib Toumi
Manama: Iran's confrontation with the West over its nuclear programme and
the war in Afghanistan are the biggest threats to Gulf security, and if they are
not constructively tackled, the region will face dire consequences, Kuwaiti
foreign minister and deputy prime minister Shaikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salem Al
Sabah said late on Friday.
"Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, Iran's confrontation with the
international community, Palestine and the suffering of the Palestinian people,
the Horn of Africa, and the crisis in Yemen [all threaten Gulf Security],"
Shaikh Mohammad said, addressing the inaugural session of the sixth annual
Manama
Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.
Speaking at the conference on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki said Iran needs up to 15 nuclear plants to generate electricity,
underlining Tehran's determination to press ahead with a programme the West
suspects is aimed at making bombs. However, he said Iran was ready to
swap up to
1,200 kilogrammes of its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods, as proposed by
the International Atomic Energy Agency. The UN nuclear watchdog has proposed
that Iran ship out its 3.5 per cent enriched uranium to be further refined by
France and Russia.
Challenges
Indirectly referring to Iran, Shaikh Mohammad said: "People call for
rebellion against the regime, challenging the government and calling for the
overthrow of
the government in place."
Shaikh Mohammad also highlighted the Gulf's reliance on oil revenues and mid-
and long-term demographic changes as challenges.
