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Missile system not aimed at Iran

Poland has clarified that its missile cooperation with the United States has nothing to do with Washington’s allegation of a possible missile threat from Iran.

If Tehran “has a target list we believe we are quite low on it,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the American magazine Foreign Policy during his trip to Washington on Thursday.

The minister noted his country’s agreement to host part of the facilities required for a planned US missile system in Europe is way to build ties and boost their credentials within NATO.

“Our part of Europe has so far very few NATO installations,” he said. “This is the game that seems to be the next project, so we decided to get involved.”

Washington’s plans to deploy missile interceptors in Poland was announced under former US President George W. Bush’s administration, who insisted the system was vital to protect Europe against what it called threats of long-range missile from Syria, Iran and North Korea.

The plan, strongly opposed by Russia, underwent some changes under the administration of incumbent US President Barack Obama, employing a “phased adaptive approach” that will use smaller, more mobile systems to intercept short and medium-range missiles.

Tehran has repeatedly condemned the US allegations as a plot to align the rest of the world against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian officials stress the country’s missile capabilities are to serve defensive purposes and are not aimed at any nations.

Iran, however, says it reserves the right to make use of all its military power to defend its sovereignty in the event of a foreign aggression.

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