Message to Iran: "Cool it"

Reported as
Cool it call over 'sabre-rattling':

IRAN must stop its "disruptive" rhetoric and behaviour to cool tensions in the region, a top US military official warned in Bahrain yesterday .

The US takes Iranian threats seriously and is ready to deal with them, said US Navy Fifth Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff.

The Iranian regime is bringing pressure upon itself with its own actions, he said, after addressing a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Bahrain, at the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, Residence and Spa.

"Is Iran a threat? I think what concerns me with Iran is their rhetoric and the fact that they say things that I don't think need saying," said Vice-Adm Cosgriff.

"If you recall, not too many weeks ago they made a comment about Bahrain - essentially that this was a province of Iran."

"First of all it's not true. It was intended to intimidate and coerce and that is disruptive. What we believe in is security and stability and disruptive behaviour is always a concern."

"I would hope that the government of Iran would stop that sort of language because it is intended to incite, to coerce and to intimidate and I don't think that has a useful role in the region."

He was referring to a widely-reported editorial written by Hossein Sharjatmadari, editor of a hard-line Iranian newspaper and close aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which claimed Bahrain as Iranian territory.

The Iranian government immediately distanced itself from the remarks, saying they did not represent the government view.

Yeah, did they toss Sharjatmadari into jail? If not, then he's just front man, trying out some new line of Iranian illogic...