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Defense Secretary Gates says Iranians `overplaying their hand'
The Associated Press
Issue date: 1/19/07 Section: News
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He said that now is not the time to negotiate with Iran because the United States lacks leverage but that talks probably would make sense at some point.
The United States has been applying growing pressure on Iran, blaming Tehran for providing bombs and other help used against American troops by militants in Iraq. President Bush has warned the United States will "seek out and destroy" the networks providing that help.
In addition, American raids inside Iraq have netted Iranian prisoners, and the United States is sending a second aircraft carrier and missiles to the region.
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended including Iran in regional talks on ending the violence in Iraq, a path the Bush administration has so far declined to take.
Gates said he had told the leaders of U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar that the Iranians "believe they have the United States at some disadvantage because of the situation in Iraq."
"To be precise, I told them both that I thought the Iranians were overplaying their hand and that one of the consequences of that is that they have raised real concerns on the part of a number of countries in the region and beyond about their intentions," he told reporters.
Many Gulf nations are worried about a rising Iranian influence - a concern made more acute by the prospect for a further slide toward civil war in Iraq.
With regard to U.S. failure thus far to achieve stability in Iraq, Gates said, "I think that our difficulties have given them (the Iranians) a tactical opportunity in the short term, but the United States is a very powerful country."
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