Editorial: America Criticises Iran, Stays Silent on Israel

The government-backed Al-Thawra newspaper published an editorial on December 10 criticising US defence secretary Robert Gates for calling Iran a threat to the region while backing Israel.



Gates, who visited the region last week, urged Gulf nations to work with the US to create an "air and missile defence umbrella" that would deter potential missile threats by Iran.



“Gates’s visit [to the Gulf] reveals the defiant American objective of setting a new policy in the region and drawing clear lines that lead either to war or peace,” Asad Abud wrote in the editorial.



“The secretary is focused on finding markets for American weapons, especially after the rise in oil prices. Gates is clear on two points - the Gulf region needs a missile defence umbrella to protect it from Iranian threats; and Iran, not Israel, is the real threat to the region.



“The US threat to use weapons in dealing with Iran, while it denies that Israel poses any threat to the region, ruins the promises of peace that it made at the Annapolis conference. Israel’s actions against the Palestinians since the Annapolis conference show that it does not care about the resolutions created there.



“The US cannot spread peace through a missile defence umbrella.”