Iran hits out at "adventure-seeking" U.S. in Mideast

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran accused the United States on Sunday of "adventure-seeking" policies in the Middle East and said Washington owed the region an apology for fooling its people over a naval incident in the Gulf last week.

The two foes have stepped up a war of words since the January 6 incident, when Washington says Iranian speed boats threatened U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil transport route. Iran says it was a routine identification.

The increase in tension coincides with a Middle East tour by U.S. President George W. Bush, who is seeking Arab support in reining in Iran and has repeated his assertion that the Islamic Republic was a "threat to world peace".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran had acted with restraint over the incident but the United States sought to use it to paint the Islamic state in a negative light.

"What we witnessed shows that some circles inside the United States are still pursuing its adventure-seeking policies," Hosseini told a news conference. His comments were translated into English by Iran's Press TV satellite station.

"But their plans fell flat and we advise them not to pursue such policies of fooling the people in the region and now I think they have to apologize to the people of the region and also to the American nation," he said.

He did not elaborate on what he meant by "adventure-seeking".

Iran and the United States are embroiled in a standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear activities, which the West suspects are aimed at making bombs. Tehran denies the accusation, saying it wants the technology to make fuel to generate electricity.

They also disagree over who is to blame for violence in Iraq.

Washington is pushing for a third set of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment work, as demanded by the United Nations.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday U.S. pressure would not bring Iran "to its knees" in the dispute: "Americans are mistaken by thinking that by pressuring Iran over the nuclear issue they can break Iran."

Bush visited the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain on Sunday and the fleet's commander made it clear his forces took the incident in the Gulf "deadly seriously", White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

In Tehran, Hosseini said: "We exercised restraint and we very calmly announced that this was a routine procedure but they tried to create a certain amount of commotion here."

Iran and the United States have over the past week issued videos and audio giving conflicting versions of the incident.

(Writing by Fredrik Dahl, Editing by Elizabeth Piper)