US F-22 warplanes can not be threat to Iran: MP

An Iranian lawmaker says deployment of US F-22 Raptor stealth fighters at an airbase in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is nothing new and cannot be considered a threat to the Islamic Republic.

Member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Hossein Ebrahimi stressed that the UAE will never be able to use its military equipment against Iran, Majlis official news agency, ICANA, quoted him as saying on Monday.

“Although the UAE and other sheikdoms are by resorting to military equipment trying to elevate their position, the reality shows that no [other] country in the region is as dignified and powerful as the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.

The lawmaker said Iran defeated its enemies during the Iraqi-imposed war and became the superior power of the region despite the fact that the Baath regime was given all kinds of advanced war equipment and even chemical bombs by world powers.

“The UAE and other sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf are not in a position to pose a threat to Iran. They are not able or capable of using [the military] equipment provided by the US,” he said.

Ebrahimi stated that after suffering frequent defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan and in view of the economic and political crisis in the US, Washington is not in a position today to arm Arab sheikdoms in order to threaten Iran.

“The UAE and [other Persian Gulf] sheikdoms should know that establishing security is only possible through agreement, understanding, cooperation and synergism among regional countries and any kind of foreign intervention in the region will only foster insecurity,” he said.

The Iranian lawmaker’s remarks came in reaction to reports stating that the US has deployed some of its most stealth jet fighters on an allied base less than 200 miles from Iran.

ABC reported on Saturday that the stealth F-22 Raptors are in hangars at the UAE Al Dafra Air Base.