Iran says NATO missile shield a plot to protect Israel

Iran said on Tuesday that the creation of a NATO-wide missile shield was a plot by the West to protect Israel, dpa reported.

"Regional and Islamic countries have already voiced their doubts about this suspicious move which is mainly aimed at supporting and protecting the Zionist (Israeli) regime," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

He said the region's nations should not allow such plans to be implemented as they had their own potential to guarantee security. NATO's decision on missile defence would clear the way for the creation of a computer program capable of linking anti-missile systems in all member states under a single operator.

As part of the package, the US is to move anti-missile systems to Europe, starting with ships in the Mediterranean in 2011 and stationing land-based missiles in Romania in 2015 and Poland in 2018.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday in Brussels that there was no need for the alliance to name the nations against which its proposed ballistic missile screen would operate.

The proposed shield would largely be based on US technology, and diplomats said Washington initially pushed for this week's NATO summit in Lisbon to name Iran as the main source of a missile threat. But Turkey opposed that stance, fearing tensions with its neighbour.


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