Iran 'Advises' GCC States against Hosting U.S. Missile Shield

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Wednesday "advised" neighboring Arab states in the Gulf not to adopt a missile shield project being promoted by the United States.

"From the start we have rejected such a project, which is contrary to regional security, and we advise our friends to not take part in such a game," Vahidi was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

"The anti-missile shield in the Persian Gulf is an American-Zionist project and anybody who goes into that project will be playing the game of the Americans and Israel," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last Saturday promoted the missile shield idea at a Gulf-U.S. security forum in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. officials have said it is their "priority" to help the six Gulf Cooperation Council states build a "regional missile defense architecture" against what they see as a looming ballistic missile threat from Iran.

Clinton stressed Washington's "unwavering" commitment to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, all longstanding U.S. allies.