Protect Gulf environment

Iran recently called on Iraq and the six Gulf Arab states to join it in setting up a joint force to protect the environment in the Gulf.

"The eight countries of the region will cooperate to avoid pollution and may deploy a maritime guard in their territorial and in international waters," Iran's vice president Hadi Mnafi said.

Mnafi, quoted by the official news agency, Irna, was referring to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The vice president said oil tankers and foreign warships, especially US vessels, were responsible for much Gulf pollution along with toxic waste discharged from factories in the region.

Iranian military and political officials have increasingly talked of a security pact in the Gulf, amid warming ties between the Islamic republic and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsenjani accused the United States and Britain last week of blocking such a pact.