Today.Az » World news » 'NATO missile defense system is not threat to Tehran'
31 March 2012 [10:45] - Today.Az
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave assurances to neighboring Iran that a US radar deployed in Turkey as part of a NATO missile defense system is not a threat to Tehran, Today's Zaman reported.
Erdogan, speaking to Iran's state television during a visit to Tehran on Thursday, said the radar could be dismantled if conditions Turkey had put forward to host the radar are not respected. Turkey agreed to host the radar after lengthy negotiations with the US during which it insisted that no country be named as a source of threat and that data to be collected by radar not be shared with Israel, Iran's enemy.
"If NATO does not comply with Turkey's conditions, we can ask them to dismantle the system," Erdogan said, according to Iran's Fars News Agency.
NATO does not mention any country as a threat to be countered by its nascent missile defense system but US officials did name Iran as a threat on numerous occasions. The Turkish decision to host the radar has strained Ankara's ties with Iran, prompting angry statements from some Iranian officials threatening to hit the radar if Iran is targeted.
/Trend/
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