Rouhani extends hand to Gulf monarchies

MUSCAT, Mar 13 (AFP): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sought Thursday to mend fences between his mainly-Shiite country and Sunni-dominated Gulf monarchies distrustful of Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support of the Syrian regime.
Rouhani, concluding a two-day visit to Oman, said the Islamic republic offered "a hand of fraternity to all the countries of the region, especially those south of the Persian Gulf."
"Relations with one country should not grow at the expense of an other. We want to see the countries of the region live in peace, understanding and friendship," Rouhani told a business gathering in Muscat.
The sultanate maintains strong links with Iran and has played an important intermediary role between Western countries and Tehran.
However not all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which besides Oman also comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, enjoy the same level of relations with Tehran.
Gulf Arab countries have expressed concern about the reliability of Iran's sole nuclear power plant at Bushehr and the risk of radioactive leaks should it be hit by a major earthquake.
They also fear there is a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear drive, despite repeated assertions by Tehran that its atomic ambitions are peaceful.
Ties between Gulf countries and Iran have also been strained by Tehran's backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in its battle against rebels supported by the Arab monarchies.