Saudi Arabia downplays Iran military threat

RIYADH, July 6 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia still hopes for a peaceful solution to the international stand-off over Iran's nuclear energy programme and has downplayed the idea of Iran targeting the Gulf region in any war, a report said today.

The Gulf Arab region contains a large US military presence that could be deployed to attack Iran, which Washington and its ally Israel accuse of using a civilian energy programme to cover up plans to develop a nuclear weapon.

''We have expressed our hope that the Iranian crisis is solved peacefully,'' official news agency SPA quoted Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as saying after a meeting of Gulf Arab ministers in Jeddah on Thursday night.

Asked about the chances of Iran striking at Gulf countries in the event of hostilities, the minister said: ''I haven't heard of such a suggestion ... but it is inappropriate.'' Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries share the United States' concern about growing Iranian power in the Arab world.

Although their official position is against any military action, analysts say Saudi Arabia aided the US military in the 2003 war on Iraq, which Riyadh publicly opposed.

Gulf Arabs have announced their own plans to develop nuclear energy for civilian purposes, in what has been seen as a warning that they will develop atomic weapons if Iran obtains the bomb.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, grouping Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, has begun talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency on international monitoring of the programme, which is at a very early stage.

REUTERS GT BST1908