Iran calls for regional security alliance

TEHRAN, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Iranian defense officials expressed a desire to form a regional security alliance to safeguard the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said at a meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, with Prince Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the deputy commander of the Qatari military, that a security alliance would be in the best interest of the littoral states in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian Press TV reported.

Najjar said regional tensions made the move attractive to the Gulf states. For his part, the Qatari commander said Doha was ready to establish stronger ties with the Islamic Republic, notably in the defensive arena.

Najjar issued a reminder saying any aggression against Iran would result in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway where as much as 40 percent of the world's oil passes.

The statements come as Tehran said it had placed its Revolutionary Guard in charge of securing the waters off the southern coast of Iran.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post Tuesday said 1,000 bunker-buster bombs Israel plans to purchase from the U.S. Department of Defense could be used in a possible attack on suspected Iranian nuclear sites.