Ahmadinejad said the U.S.-allied Emirates backs Iran's position that the U.S. military should leave the Gulf.Great job, GOP. Your GWOT is proving, day by day, to be more and more an abysmal failure in every respect, and moving us closer and closer towards a conflict of such scale that our military could not presently perform without significant casualties (again, your fault).
"This region won't allow other powers from thousands of miles away to threaten the region and create enmity," he said. "Our talks with our brothers in the United Arab Emirates reiterated this truth again and again."
Emirati officials had no immediate comment. They have previously expressed strong concerns about growing U.S.-Iranian tensions and elevated U.S. rhetoric against Iran, but have shown no indication they intend to ask the U.S. military to leave.
A pair of newspaper editorials in the Dubai pro-government Gulf News expressed concern about Cheney's speech and supported closer relations with Iran. On Sunday, the paper lambasted Cheney for lumping the Gulf Arab countries into his anti-Iran rhetoric, saying he had needlessly stoked tensions with Iran.
"Such careless talk by the vice president is not only unwelcome but is likely to have created an all-inclusiveness that is not welcome to the Arab states," the paper said.
On Monday, the paper said Ahmadinejad's landmark visit had opened "a new page in relations" and backed the decision to form a bilateral commission. No Gulf leader has publicly backed Iran's call for a security alliance or for the removal of U.S. troops from the region.
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