Gates: Iran's support for Taliban 'limited'

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates on Thursday downplayed Iran's influence on Afghanistan, but the war of words escalated, with Iran's president promising that the region's people would "cut your hands off of the Persian Gulf oil."

Visiting a military base that houses an air-refueling wing serving Afghanistan, Mr. Gates said Iranian support for the Taliban in Afghanistan is "pretty limited" -- so far.

Mr. Gates noted his public exchange of barbs with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week over which country is doing harm in Afghanistan. He had accused Tehran of undermining U.S. and NATO efforts by helping the Taliban.

"I have talked about Iran playing a double game in Afghanistan, wanting a good relationship with the Afghan government and wanting to make our lives harder," he said.

"At this point the level of their effort, I think, is not a major problem for us," Mr. Gates said. "The level of their support for the Taliban, so far as best we can tell, has been pretty limited. I was just trying to express the hope that it wouldn't get any worse."

The Pentagon asked press traveling with Mr. Gates not to name the military base.

In Riyadh on Wednesday, Mr. Gates asked Saudi leaders for help winning wide backing for strong economic penalties against Tehran.

Mr. Ahmadinejad responded Thursday, saying, "The Iranian nation will not allow the world power (the United States) to corrupt and create chaos in the Persian Gulf."

"You are wrong if you think that you will be able to dominate the oil of Iraq and the Persian Gulf through deploying military forces," Mr. Ahmadinejad said. "The young people of the region will cut your hands off of the Persian Gulf oil."

"Pakistanis, Afghans, the Persian Gulf states should be watchful," Mr. Ahmadinejad told a crowd at the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. "They do not serve anybody."

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