Iran attacks U.S. plans for Saudi arms deal

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the United States on Monday of seeking to create fear and divisions in the Middle East after reports Washington was readying major arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

A U.S. defence official said in Washington on Saturday the package could be worth some $20 billion over the next 10 years.

Washington is striving to assure its Gulf allies concerned by the growing strength of Shi'ite Muslim Iran and the war in Iraq that it is committed to the region and will stand by them, with arms sales being part of that process, U.S. officials say.

Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the United States was trying to "create a fake arms race in order to make their big arms companies survive", the official IRNA news agency reported.

But he also said countries had the right to buy or make arms to boost their defences, and suggested military purchases by its Gulf neighbours would not worry the Islamic Republic.

"Iran has no concerns about the strengthening of the defensive capabilities of (other) ... Islamic countries and regards their defensive capabilities as part of the capabilities of the Islamic world," Najjar told reporters, according to IRNA.

Iran has in the past threatened to hit back at U.S. regional interests if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear programme, which major powers suspect is aimed at making atom bombs.

ISRAELI CONCERNS

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman noted the reports of the Saudi arms deal came ahead of a joint trip to the Sunni Arab nation and other Middle Eastern countries by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates this week.