Vahidi: Patriot Missiles Harm Turkey’s Security

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi stressed Sturdy that “NATO Patriot missile batteries deployed along the Turkey-Syria border will harm Turkish security.”

In remarks to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency Vahidi stated: “The installation of Patriot missiles in Turkey plays no role in establishing Turkey’s security and this harms the country of Turkey.”
“The West has always pursued its viewpoints and interests and we disagree with the presence of Western countries in regional interactions,” he added.

Vahidi further issued a denial of Iranian intervention in the Syrian civil war, saying that Tehran isn’t training the regime forces to battle the rebels.
In parallel, he joined a growing chorus of Iranian officials who criticized neighboring Turkey for asking NATO for missile batteries to be deployed along the border with Syria.

Last week, Iranian Chief of General Staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said that “stationing Patriot missiles on Turkey’s border with Syria is setting the stage for a world war.”

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also condemned what it called Turkey’s provocative deployment of Patriot batteries. “It is believed here that stationing these missiles in Turkey is an act of provocation, not deterrence,” Salehi said.