U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a trip to the Reoublic of Georgia, noted U.S. efforts to increase its security presence in the Persian Gulf and the defense capabilities of its allies there. "We take very, very strongly our obligations to help our allies defend themselves, and no one should be confused about that," she said.
Rice's trip to Eastern Europe began with a celebration of U.S plans to base anti-missile defenses in countries once under the Soviet hand. It ended with a public display of close U.S. ties to Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili, a Russian nemesis.
Some arms-control experts said the missile barrages might have been just for show. Iran's conventional weapons arsenal is little match for U.S. and Israeli precision weapons, antimissile batteries and air power, analysts said, and it apparently unveiled no new weapons.
