Iran warns that positioning F-22s in UAE is a threat to regional security
Iran's Defence Minister, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, has warned that the basing of the US F-22 Raptor strike aircraft in the United Arab Emirates is "detrimental to regional security."
According to the FARS news agency Vahidi said today that "The deployment of F-22 fighters in a base in the UAE is a harmful move and undermines the security of the region.
"We consider such (military) presence in the region as to be useless and harmful and more aimed at creating a psychological ploy and an insecure atmosphere in the region. We don't see it useful" Vahidi told Al Alam TV network, according to FARS.
Vahidi said that guaranteeing security in region is possible only through cooperation among all the regional states.
The comments by the Iranian minister came after media reports revealed that the US has recently deployed its F-22 Raptors at the UAE Al Dafra Air Base.
In a comment, FARS said that Iranian officials have always cautioned about the devastating consequences of tension in the region, and called on certain regional states to be "watchful of the plots of some aliens who seek to stir tension in this sensitive region."
It said: "Tehran believes that deployment of trans-regional powers in the region impairs security and is a source of tension in the region, reiterating that regional peace and security will be established if all the regional countries grow united and stage all-out cooperation."
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