Gulf countries, cautious about the nuclear standoff between the United States and Iran, signalled loudly at a regional security conference on Saturday their opposition to any military option against Tehran.

Washington, wrong-footed by its own National Intelligence Estimate in its accusations that Iran wanted nuclear weapons, has emphasized that no options have been ruled out in forcing it to end its nuclear enrichment programme.

The NIE on Tuesday said that Iran, which insists its current programme is for peaceful power generation, had halted a secret nuclear weapons programme four years ago.

'We want the military factor (of Iran's nuclear programme) to be eliminated,' the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdulrahman Al Attiyah said on Saturday.

'What we care for in the GCC is finding solutions that enhance security and stability ... and believe in dialogue as a way to solve the crisis,' between the West and Iran, he said.

Gulf countries remain wary of Iran's nuclear ambitions but do not want to see its standoff with the West escalating into a military confrontation.

'We are not for the military confrontation option,' said Attiyah.

Qatar's Prime Minister Shaikh Hamed bin Jassem Al Thani went further, calling on Washington to engage Teheran in dialogue to reach a solution.

'Direct talks do not mean agreeing (from the start) with the other party,' he told conference delegates on Saturday, among them US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Qatar, one of the key US-allies in the region, hosts the US army's Central Command which directed the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

But in a surprising move, it invited Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend a GCC annual summit on Monday, making him the first Iranian president to take part in a Gulf leaders summit.

'I don't think we can try to solve our problems through trying to seal Iran (off from) the region. They are a very important player,' he said defending Qatar's decision.

He also reiterated that being 'pushed into a military confrontation with Iran' would not be in the interest of the GCC countries.

Gates meanwhile reiterated Washington's view that Iran's foreign policy was a threat to the United States, the Middle East and all countries within range of missiles which he said Teheran was developing.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 09 Aralık 2007, 14:30