Iran says NATO missile shield program raised concerns in region
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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday warned against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) missile-defense shield program and said that it has raised concerns in the region.
NATO's missile defense shield program in the region has raised concerns among the regional countries and in the Muslim world, said Mehmanparast in his weekly press briefing.
Iran is not a threat to the regional countries and the Zionist regime of Israel is the only threat in the region, he said.
Installation of the missile defense shield is to meet the interests of the Zionist regime and some non-regional powers, he said, adding that this requires the vigilance of the regional countries to resolve the raised concerns among the regional states and in the Isamic world.
Turkey has been pushed by NATO to host the missile defense shield 's radars, but it has said that it would seek a leading role in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization missile-defense shield if it is to agree to host the system's radars, ratchet ing up its conditions days before a key alliance meeting.
Turkey would demand that NATO assign a Turkish commander to oversee the shield, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.
"Especially if this is to be placed on our soil, (command) definitely should be given to us, otherwise it is not possible to accept," Mr. Erdogan told journalists at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Monday, according to Anadolu Ajansi, Turkey's state- funded news agency.
