Iran: We Don't Want A Hotline With The US

From the Tehran Times:

Vahidi: we don’t need a stinkin’ hotline

TEHRAN – Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said that there is no need for the establishment of a direct military hotline between Iran and the United States.

“We had previously said that foreign forces should quickly leave the region. If they put the pullout of their troops on the agenda, there will be no tension and no need for a hotline,” Vahidi told the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.

“Iranian military forces have complete control over the Persian Gulf region and foreign forces have to answer our military forces’ questions when they pass through the waterway,” he said.

Some U.S. media outlets have recently quoted an unidentified U.S. defense official as saying that the U.S. is considering setting up a direct military hotline with Iran after a series of close encounters between U.S. and Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf.

Fearing that a misunderstanding could lead to a wider conflict, U.S. officials are weighing establishing emergency communications but a final decision is still pending, the U.S. official said.

On Monday, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Naval Force Commander Ali Fadavi also dismissed the U.S. proposal and said, “When we go to the Gulf of Mexico, we will establish direct communication with them.”

The story appears here.