DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710060088

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: TEHRAN                            LENGTH:   24 lines

AMERICAN PRESENCE IN THE PERSIAN GULF CALLED ``ILLEGITIMATE''

Two days after the United States ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz to the Persian Gulf, Iran on Sunday attacked the U.S. presence in the region as ``illegitimate.''

``The aim of the U.S. presence in the gulf is to create a crisis and to sell weapons worth billions of dollars to the Arab countries of the region,'' Rear Adm. Abbas Mohtaj was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

On Friday, the Nimitz battle group was ordered to head to the region two weeks ahead of schedule in response to raids Sept. 29 by Iranian jets on two Iraqi bases of an Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedeen Khalq.

The Clinton administration told Iran its raids violated a U.S.-enforced ``no-fly'' zone in southern Iraq and could trigger retaliation.

Mohtaj said ``the presence of foreign countries . . . in the gulf is illegitimate and contrary to the security of the region,'' according to the agency.

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