Iran, Russia, China mulling joint missile shield
25 September 2011 16:53
TEHRAN – Unofficial sources have announced that Iran, Russia, and
China are currently holding talks on a proposal to establish a joint
missile defense shield as a counterweight to a NATO defense shield,
according to a recent report.
The report, which was published in the Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan
on Sunday, said that the sources cited two reasons why serious
consultations have been held on the initiative.
First, all three states have come to the conclusion that U.S.
officials’ assertion that their concern over the alleged missile and
nuclear capabilities of Iran and North Korea is the reason for the
decision to establish a NATO missile defense shield is just a pretext
and the true objective of the shield is to threaten Russia and China.
In addition, now that the proposal to establish an early warning radar
system in southeast Turkey, which is one component of the NATO missile
defense shield, appears to be a done deal, the U.S. is now planning to
establish other components of the new system in South Korea and
Taiwan, which clearly shows that Washington is using the alleged
threat from Iran and North Korea as a pretext to target China and
Russia.
An informed expert believes China, which has not taken any action on
the issue so far, is beginning to comprehend the level of danger posed
by the new system.
Russia’s analysis of the situation is similar to Iran’s view, which
was expressed during Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai
Patrushev’s recent visit to Tehran.
Therefore, it seems the three countries have realized that the time
has come to seriously start discussions on the plan.
Some sources say Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian envoy to NATO, who is
scheduled to travel to Iran before the end of September, will probably
hold operational discussions on the plan with Iranian officials.
According to RIA Novosti, Rogozin is going to discuss `strategic
issues’ in Tehran.
Military experts are of the opinion that since Iran, Russia, and China
have made great progress in designing anti-aircraft defense systems,
the construction of such a missile shield system will not be a
difficult task for them.