Komfie Manalo - AHN News Writer
Tehran, Iran (AHN) - The Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday lashed out against Washington's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, blasting the offer for spreading fears and worries in the Middle East. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, "The region needs peace, stability and security, the United States has always had special policy of spreading fear in the region and tarnishing existing good relations among countries in this region.""The U.S. is trying to disturb it by selling weapons to the region," he added. Iran's statement came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice starts her key regional tour in the Middle East aimed at uniting American allies against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. Rice declares Iran as the biggest threat in the region.Early this week, the U.S. announced of a planned arms deal with Saudi Arabia amounting to $20 billion. Rice met with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and both leaders discussed the Iraqi and Lebanon situation. Rice, who is traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will also be meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab ministers at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.She said, "The United States is determined to assure our allies that we are going to be reliable in helping them to meet their security needs. We have a lot of interests in common in this region: in the fight against terrorism and extremism; in protecting the gains of peace processes of the past and in extending those gains to peace processes of the future."In Ireland, Rice told reporters, "There isn't a doubt, I think, that Iran constitutes the single most important, single-country challenge to... U.S. interests in the Middle East and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see."

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