TEHRAN (Reuters/AFP) - Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of seeking to stoke Iran phobia in the Middle East by deploying missile defence systems in the Gulf, and said Tehran enjoyed friendly ties with neighbouring states. US officials said on Sunday that the US has expanded land- and sea-based missile defence systems in and around the Gulf to counter what it sees as Irans growing missile threat. The deployments include expanded land-based Patriot defensive missile installations in Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, they said. We regard these measures as a conspiracy and a ploy by foreign countries to create a sense of Iran phobia, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told state television. Because they have lost their presence in Iran, they feel they have no foothold and in order to justify their presence (in the region) they make such an insinuation, he said. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also criticised the US move, state broadcaster IRIB reported. Americas new puppet show for protecting and implementing security in the region is nothing but a new political trick to pave the way for its presence at others expense, he told parliament. American officials do not realise that they are the problems in the region. The more equipment you bring in, the more it worries the countries where they are deployed, he added. Has Iran ever committed any aggression against any neighbours or the region? he asked. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, accused the West of seeking to weaken Gulf countries in a meeting on Tuesday with the visiting Qatari crown prince, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Westerners do not want the region to be secure or the regional countries to have friendly ties, he was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster. They have always tried to keep the regions countries weak. Their life depends on creating division and insecurity, he said. But fortunately there is a common perception by Tehran and Qatar of the enemies plots. ISNA news agency said Irans Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi also met the Qatari prince and said Tehran was ready to expand its defence and military cooperation with Qatar and other Persian Gulf countries. Irans desired model is maintaining security collectively and we believe that all regional countries should be committed to preserving stability and security in the sensitive region of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. ISNA said Sheikh Tamim also expressed a desire to expand military ties with Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mehmanparast accused its arch-foe Israel of being behind the killing in Dubai last month of Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, a top leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas, branding the murder state terrorism.