US Secretary of Defense came to Cairo to denounce Iran's ambitions in the Gulf region and its nuclear programme, Gamal Essam El-Din reports In Cairo yesterday, US Secretary of Defense launched a scathing attack against Iran, accusing it of stoking sectarian strife in Iraq, funding anti-US insurgents there and supplying them with lethal weapons. In Gates' words, US allies "should have no illusions about the Iranian regime or about their designs for their nuclear programmes, their intentions for Iraq, or their ambitions in the Gulf region." Gates called on US allies in the Arab world to help it stabilise Iraq, warning that chaos there harms the region more than it hurts the United States. Gates urged Arab allies to set aside disputes over the US-led invasion of Iraq. "Whatever disagreements we might have had over how we got to this point in Iraq, the consequences of a failed state in Iraq, of chaos there, will adversely impact the security and prosperity of every nation in the Middle East and the Gulf region," said Gates. Gates placed special emphasis on what he called "the historic role of Egypt in leading the region" and using its influence, alongside Iraq's other neighbours, in dampening homegrown insurgency and alleviating sectarian strife. "It is unlikely that progress can be made on the most pressing issues of today without Egypt's full engagement, support and leadership." Gates said the US is committed to modernising the Egyptian armed forces, the latest evidence of this being the $1.3 billion in military assistance to Egypt in 2007/2008. "Our military relationship goes back to 1980 when we began the Bright Star joint exercises," said Gates. Gates spoke to the annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt about "the US-Egypt Relationship and the Security Challenges of the Region". He said his current visit to Egypt is his fourth. He first came in 1979 at the end of the Camp David agreement with Israel, then during the Reagan era and as director of the CIA under President George Bush senior during the "war of liberation of Kuwait". Gates refused to respond to questions about the Israeli nuclear arsenal and the impact on US-Egyptian relations of the imprisonment of the popular opposition leader Ayman Nour of the Al-Ghad Party who was seen as President Mubarak's chief rival. Mohamed El-Sayed El-Said, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies, told Al-Ahram Weekly that he fully disagrees with Gates. "It is by no means in Egypt's interest to stand behind the US against Iran even if we get modern military equipment in return," said El-Said. "I urge Egyptian politicians not to toe the American line. I'm sorry that Gates came to Egypt to attack Iran, thus trying to drive a wedge between the two countries in favour of the US."
