Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 05 by Shadows of Steel (v1.1) Page A

warships must leave.”
                 Whiting’s
eyes widened in surprise. “Excuse me, Minister?” “Madam, the Islamic Republic
demands that all foreign warships leave the Persian Gulf ,” Velayati said. “The presence of offensive
warships in the Gulf is a threat to Iran ’s peace and sovereignty, and may be
considered a hostile action toward Iran .”
                “Minister Velayati, the Persian Gulf is not the private lake of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” Whiting said. “Any vessel, including warships, can freely
navigate those waters at any time.”
                 “Then
you risk war. You want war with Iran ...”
                 “We
don’t want war with anyone, Dr. Velayati,” Whiting said, “but you threatened
international shipping and the right to freely navigate the Persian Gulf by placing anti-ship missiles on Abu Musa Island .”
                “Are we not allowed to protect our
property?” Velayati asked. “Are we not allowed to defend our rights and our
freedom?”
                 “Of
course you are, sir,” Whiting replied, “but those weapons Iran placed on Abu Musa Island were offensive in nature, not defensive.”
                 “And
so you say, Madam Vice President, that the presence of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln and its escort
guided-missile cruisers and battleships in the Persian Gulf with their bombers and cruise missiles and
nuclear warheads are merely defensive in nature and not offensive?” Velayati
asked. “I think not. Yet you insist on the right to sail your warships within
just a few kilometers of Islamic Republic territory and fly your spy planes
over our vessels. You set a dubious double standard in our own front yard,
Madam Vice President. These are our waters, our lands. We have a right to defend them from hostile foreign
invaders. Your support of the dastardly Gulf Cooperative Council attack on our
islands proves your hostile intent.
                 “Madam
Vice President, the Islamic Republic of Iran will look upon the presence of
non-Arab warships in the Persian Gulf to be a hostile act, an act of war against Iran ,” Velayati went on. “We are calling for all
non-Arab nations to remove their warships from the Persian Gulf immediately.”
                 “Leaving
only Iran ’s warships in the Gulf, Minister?” Whiting interjected.
                 “ Iran hereby pledges that we will also withdraw
our warships from the Gulf, leaving only those forces precisely equal to those
of all Gulf Cooperative Council warships,” Velayati replied. “We shall remove
the aircraft carrier Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini and our submarines to our base at Chah Bahar and keep them outside
the Persian Gulf as well, using them only to patrol the sea
lanes and approaches to the Strait of Hormuz and Persian
Gulf for signs of
anyone violating the agreement.”
                 “It
is an interesting idea, Minister Velayati,” Whiting said. Across from her, the
President shrugged; the President’s National Security Advisor grimaced. “We
must present your idea to the President and the Congress; we should like to see
a formal draft of such a treaty. Until then, Minister, the right of any nation
to freely navigate international waters should not be infringed.”
                 “The Persian Gulf is vital to Iran ’s economy as well as the economies of the
GCC and the industry of our customers, madam,” Velayati went on, continuing his
single-minded preaching. “Because it is so vital, we propose that the Persian Gulf be completely demilitarized. Foreign
warships, foreign warplanes, foreign troops should all leave. Iran pledges to do all that is possible to see
to it that peace reigns in the Gulf. Can you pledge your support for this
ideal, Madam Vice President? Will you take this message to the President?”
“Minister Velayati, I will discuss everything with