NEWS BRIEFING WITH ROBERT M. GATES,
U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
February 2, 2007
Excerpts
. . .
With respect to Iran, first of all, the president has made clear;
the secretary of State has made clear; I've made clear -- nobody is
planning -- we are not planning for a war with Iran. What we are trying
to do is in Iraq, counter what the Iranians are doing to our soldiers,
their involvement in activities, particularly these explosively formed
projectiles that are killing our troops, and we are trying to get them
to stop their nuclear enrichment. We are doing the latter strictly
through the diplomatic process. It seems to be showing some progress.
At least we -- the diplomatic process is working, and I think that
that's where we are relying.
So there really is -- you know, I think because we are acting against the Iranians'
activities in Iraq, it's given rise to some of these talks. Clearly, the deployment
of the second carrier group has given -- has further led to this. But really,
the purpose of that is simply to underscore to our friends, as well as to our
potential adversaries in the region, that the United States has considered
the Persian Gulf and that whole area, and stability in that area, to be a vital
national interest. And that has been the case for decades, under many, many
presidents. And we simply want to reinforce to our friends, in particular,
that they can count on us having a presence and being strong in their area
in protecting our interests and in protecting theirs.
. . .