Salehi: Troops Should Withdraw From Bahrain, US No Longer Has Pretext to Stay in Region

Local Editor

Iranian Foreign Minister tackled the dual-track strategy followed by the West and some countries on regional events and Bahrain and said, "deployment of military troops in Bahrain not only does not help resolve the problem, but also makes the situation more complex."

He stressed necessity of withdrawal of the outsiders from Bahrain.

Salehi then welcomed upcoming reforms in Syria promised by President Bashar al-Assad and stressed consideration of the nation's demands.

Moreover, Salehi said the US has no more pretexts to remain in the region following Washington's confirmation that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed.

"With the killing of bin Laden, there is no excuse for the US presence in the region," Salehi said at the press conference in the Qatari capital of Doha on Monday, IRNA reported.
"If the US invaded the region under such a pretext, the problem is over now and they had better pull out of the region immediately and stop the killing of regional people," he added.
Salehi returned to Iran early Tuesday after a one-day trip to Qatar.

Salehi referred to the deaths of "tens of thousands" of defenseless people as a result of the US presence in the region and said there was no place for the US presence in the future of the region.
"The public opinion in the region and even the US are not happy with the US presence in the region," the top Iranian diplomat added.

Salehi pointed out that Iran opposed the US invasion of Afghanistan under the pretext of tracking down and killing bin Laden from the very beginning.