Iran Warns over NATO Missile Battery in Turkey

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tehran blasted NATO plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Turkey, and said the missiles are planned to be used for aggression against the Islamic Republic and its interests.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said on Monday, "The West claims the radar system in Turkey is to confront Iranian missiles but it should be aware that we will not tolerate any aggression against our national interests."

Turkey's Foreign Ministry revealed on Friday that negotiations with NATO chiefs over the "missile shield" had reached "their final stages."

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said, "The early warning radar system allocated by the United States to NATO will be deployed in our country."

Unal said that the plan reflected the new strategic concept approved by the Western military alliance's leaders at a Lisbon summit last year.

The United States Defense Department subsequently announced that the radar system will be operational by the end of the year.

Vahidi underlined that the western powers' military presence in Muslim states will merely result in insecurity in those countries.

"We believe that the presence of the Americans and westerners in Islamic countries is troublesome and disturbs security and harms those Muslim states," Vahidi said on Monday night.

He further warned that an aggression against Iran from any part of the region or the world will be given a crushing response.

Vahidi echoed the words of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who said earlier, "Muslim countries should maintain security in the region through reliance on their own capabilities and cooperation.

"They should not allow a situation to develop where insecurity prevails in the region and NATO's interests in the region are served by Muslim countries."