Iran: Bush remarks aimed at keeping troops in Iraq

TEHRAN (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush made "angry" remarks about Iran to make a case for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and divert attention from his administration's unpopularity, Iran's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made his remarks to state television after Bush this week accused Iran of fomenting instability in the Middle East and putting the region "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust" with its atomic programme.

Washington accuses Tehran of backing Iraqi militants to destabilise Iraq and of seeking to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear programme, charges Iran denies.

"All these (comments) are to try to prepare the ground to show that 'We (the United States) must not quit Iraq, and we have to stay there.' This shows that their policies are based on wrong information and wrong reports," Mottaki said.

Iran blames violence in Iraq on the continued presence of U.S. troops and has called for them to be withdrawn. It also insists its nuclear programme is aimed at mastering technology to generate electricity, not to make material for warheads.

"The subjects that President Bush angrily announced indicate a problem," Mottaki told state television, adding that the U.S. administration was trying to counter what he said was plummeting credibility at home and abroad, particularly in the Middle East.

He said Bush's comments should also be seen in the light of an upcoming progress report by the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Washington's envoy in Baghdad on the state of the war.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Bush was preparing to ask Congress for as much as $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq.

Mottaki said Bush was trying to highlight problems in Iraq "in order to provide whatever the thirsty American arms industry is seeking."