Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has charged that the United States and Britain are engaged in spreading terrorism in the region.
"The United States and Britain and their forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan are encouraging acts of terror in the region," Mottaki said in an address to a regional conference in Tehran.
"Foreign (military) bases in our region have not been set up for stability and security purposes and military cooperation but are aimed at interfering in internal affairs of regional countries," he added.
He warned regional countries to exercise vigilance making sure that "deals with foreign forces will not threaten regional security."
The Iranian minister urged US officials to define the meaning of terrorism, saying, "They should speak about their links with terrorists, violation of rights in the name of human rights and their reason for keeping silent about the killing of human beings."
Referring to the recent capture of the terrorist leader Abdolmalek Rigi by Iranian intelligence forces, Mottaki questioned reasons behind the presence of the terrorist leader in the US military base in Afghanistan.
On February 23, the leader of the Jundallah terrorist group was on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan when he was tracked down by Iranian security forces.
Rigi and one of his deputies were captured after Iranian security forces forced their plane to land at an airport in the Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas.
Iranian security forces said he was at a US base in Afghanistan 24 hours before his capture.
In his confessions, Rigi revealed details about his ties with some intelligence agencies such as the CIA and said that he had closely cooperated with the security services of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Mottaki addressed arrogant powers, saying, "They are fomenting terrorism in the region while chanting anti-terrorism slogans. The Islamic Republic has long ago given warning against this danger."
Source: Agencies
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