US pressured GCC over Iran, Ahmadinejad says

said Monday the United States and its allies pressured Gulf Arab states to accuse Tehran of interfering in the region and demanded Saudi forces leave Bahrain.

"This statement was issued under pressure from America and its allies. It does not bear any legal value," Ahmadinejad told reporters at a Tehran news conference, after the GCC said Sunday it was worried about "Iranian meddling."

The Iranian president also said that Saudi-led forces brought into Bahrain amid protests by the Shiite majority in the kingdom should leave.

"It is hideous that troops have been brought in," Ahmadinejad said.

"Take them out. The people have demands so listen to them," the hardliner said.

The Gulf Arab states on Sunday accused the Islamic republic of interfering in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in a statement issued after a meeting in Riyadh, said they were "deeply worried about continuing Iranian meddling."

Ahmadinejad said the Gulf Arab monarchies must "not fall into the trap of the Americans," and should boost their ties with Tehran instead.

"We have extended the hand of friendship... do not fall into the American trap, all should be alert," Ahmadinejad said in the press conference broadcast live on state television.

Pointing the finger at Tehran's regional archfoe, Israel, he said: "Their (the West's) intention in interfering in the region is to save the Zionist

This statement was issued under pressure from America and its allies. It does not bear any legal value

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Plotting against security?

The GCC -- grouping Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- accused Shiite Iran of plotting against the security of its Sunni monarchies and of fanning confessional discord.

Tehran was "violating the sovereignty" of members of the regional grouping, it said Sunday.

The GCC meeting came after the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee said Thursday that "Saudi Arabia should know it's better not to play with fire in the sensitive region of the Persian Gulf".

Riyadh slammed what it described as an "irresponsible" Iranian statement full of "void allegations and blatant offense against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

Earlier on Monday, Kazem Jalali, the spokesman for Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said the Gulf states would be better advised to address the grievances of their own peoples as anti-regime protests sweep the Arab world.

"Iran will never interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors," he was quoted as saying by Iran's official news agency IRNA.

The GCC countries had "better reconsider their own actions" rather than issuing "emotional statements".

Iran's foreign ministry also said on Sunday that the tension between Tehran and its Arab neighbors was the result of a "Western and Zionist conspiracy" aimed at "sowing discord between Islamic countries".

Acrimony between Iran and the Gulf Arab states has been exacerbated by a Kuwait announcement on Thursday it was expelling an unspecified number of Iranian diplomats for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran. The Islamic republic has denied any link to the cell.

Iran will never interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors

Iranian spokesman Kazem Jalali