US confrontation with Iran unlikely in Iraq: US defense secretary

The chances of the United States "stumbling" into a confrontation with Iran through skirmishes in Iraq "are very low," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

When asked on CBS television if such a scenario was inevitable the longer US troops stayed in Iraq, he said: "I think the chances of us stumbling into a confrontation with Iran are very low.

"We are concerned about their activities in the south. We are concerned about the weapons that they are sending in -- that they continue to send in to Iraq.

"But I think that the process that's underway is, as I said, headed in the right direction."

US President George W. Bush on Thursday lumped Iran with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group as "two of the greatest threats to America in this new century" and said both hoped for a US defeat in Iraq.

He warned that he would not hesitate to use force if the Islamic republic targets US interests in its strife-torn neighbor, saying it must choose either to live in peace with Iraq or continue arming and funding militants there.

"Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests, and our troops, and our Iraqi partners," Bush said.

Asked if his comments meant he was less concerned about Iran than the president, Gates said he believed as Bush did that Iran had a choice, whether to have a positive or negative relationship with Iraq. Raw Story