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QUESTION: A person very near to me, in proximity, suggested that your approach to Iran is something akin to a postwar containment strategy. Is that how you would characterize it?

SECRETARY RICE: Situations are different, but there isn't a doubt, I think, that Iran constitutes the single most important single-country strategic challenge to the United States and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see, to U.S. interests in the Middle East and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see, whether you talk about support for terrorism that is a threat to the democratic forces in Lebanon, support for the most radical forces in the Palestinian territories, of course the kind of issues that Ryan Crocker raised with his counterpart, support for Shia militias and for the transfer of technologies that are endangering the lives of our soldiers and endangering a free Iraq. So if you add to that, of course, the Iranian desire to acquire the technologies that could lead to a nuclear weapon, it's a very serious set of challenges.

But we have a strategy for dealing with that, for dealing with it diplomatically. We are working with our friends and allies in the region to make very clear that the United States remains absolutely committed to and will defend its interests and those of its allies in the Gulf region. We are countering and indeed confronting Iranian activities and those who are carrying them out inside of Iraq. And of course, we're working with a coalition of states as well as within the Security Council to deny to Iran the technologies that would lead to a nuclear weapon.

And so I think we have a very - a strategy that is coherent and a strategy that is - that has many facets. At the same time, we want to reach out to the people of Iran because the Iranian people deserve to live in a country that can - to live in a country where their democratic aspirations can be met, where the great culture and the great people that they are can prosper and flourish. And so we are reaching out to them and we're going to continue to do that as well.

QUESTION: The Iranian Foreign Ministry today said that the arms package was destabilizing the region, it was just creating fear and distrust among Arab allies. I wondered if you had any comment on that.

And then secondly, if you could please give some concrete examples of how you would like your Arab allies to help stabilize Iraq.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, on the first, the destabilization of the region, I think, if there is a destabilization of the region, it can be laid at the feet of an Iranian regime that is engaging in the kinds of activities that I just outlined. But this cooperation with our allies goes back for decades. It goes to the stability and prosperity of the Gulf region, which is of great interest to the United States and great interest to our friends. And it is in favor of a Middle East that can be stable and prosperous and moving forward and in which we believe that over time reform can bring an even more - a Middle East that is truly stable.

So this is a positive agenda in the Middle East, not one that is a negative agenda or against someone. This is a positive agenda. The Iranians should stop their destabilizing activities. That's what they should do.

. . .

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, how do you view congressional concerns over the military package, particularly to Saudi Arabia, and some concerns by defense analysts that this could trigger another arms race in the region?

SECRETARY RICE: We are consulting with the Congress and we'll continue to consult with the Congress. And of course, this is still early in the process. As I said, we haven't even discussed many of the details of this and some - so we will be working with the Congress. And I'm certain that we can convince the Congress, first of all, that we know how to maintain our obligations in terms of accountability for the security packages.

Secondly, we know how to be aware of and responsive to everyone's concerns that there not be any shift in the military balance between the parties in the region. That's extremely important and we have it very much in mind.

Third, this is a time when our friends and allies in the region, including the Gulf states, which includes Saudi Arabia but I want to emphasize again it's several Gulf states - Egypt, which is coming to the end of a ten-year program; Israel, which is coming to the end of a ten-year program. This is in a long line of American efforts to be a reliable partner for our allies and our strategic partners in the region in securing themselves. There isn't anything new about the United States working with its allies for security cooperation so that they can rely on the United States to help provide the kind of equipment and the kind of - the kind of equipment that they need to secure themselves.

I want to repeat: It's the end of a ten-year arrangement with Israel; it's the end of a ten-year arrangement with Egypt. We have been doing this with the Gulf for decades, and so that's how it should be seen. And it is in the context of a broader diplomatic push region-wide to deal with the multiple challenges that the region now faces. I don't think anybody would suggest that this is a region that is without its challenges. And we're dealing with it through security cooperation, as we always have, but also through intensified political dialogue, whether it is the now very frequent meetings of the GCC plus Egypt and Jordan or the neighbors conference or the bilateral discussions that we're having with strategic dialogues with a number of these countries.

Okay, thank you.