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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Russia wonÂ’t allow US to use Azeri station for missile defence: Iran |
| 2007-06-18 |
| Iran said Sunday it had received indications from Russia’s president that he would not follow through with an offer to allow the US to use a radar station in neighbouring Azerbaijan for missile defence against Tehran. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Washington use a radar station in northeast Azerbaijan rented by Moscow to counter a potential threat from Iran, a surprise counteroffer to US plans to install a missile defence shield in eastern Europe to protect NATO allies against a missile launch by Tehran. But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Sunday that Russia officials had indicated to Tehran that Putin would not allow the plan to go through. “It seems Russia does not plan to make decisions that may cause instability and insecurity in the region, where it (Russia) is located” said Hosseini. Azerbaijan shares borders with both Russia to the north and Iran to the south. Russia has not publicly altered its offer for the US to use the Gabala radar station and had no immediate comment Sunday on Iran’s claim. ap Hosseini said Iran had summoned the Russian and Azerbaijani ambassadors to Tehran to discuss Putin’s proposal. He said Iranian ambassadors in Moscow and Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, had also discussed the issue with their host countries. The US made the formal request in January to place a radar base in a military area southwest of Prague, Czech Republic, and 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland as part of plans for a missile defence shield. But US plans have brought a strong reaction from both Iran and Russia, which accuses the US of threatening Russian territory and of trying to start a new arms race. Washington has insisted that deployment is not about Russia but about the potential threat from Iran or North Korea. Iran has rejected any possible threat to the West by its missile program, going so far as to call US plans for a missile defence shield a “joke” because Tehran’s missiles do not have the capability to reach Europe. Iran is known to possess a medium-range ballistic missile called the Shahab-3 that has a range of at least 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), capable of striking Israel. In 2005, Iranian officials said they had improved the range of the Shahab-3 to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). With this range, Tehran could strike Eastern Europe, but Western Europe would be out of reach. Although Western experts believe Iran is developing the Shahab-4 missile, thought to have a range between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers (1,200-1,900 miles), Iran has not confirmed such reports. Iran initially acknowledged in 1999 it was developing the Shahab-4, but claimed it would be used only as a space launch vehicle for commercial satellites. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #4 We didn't want to in the first place, you twits. That was Putin being a Russian. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-06-18 10:16 |
| #3 Why not just install Salman Rushdie there? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-06-18 09:46 |
| #2 Since when does russia say what we can and can't do? Screw those commie wannabees, if they can afford an arms race, let them have at it. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-06-18 09:34 |
| #1 That's okay. The missiles and radars newly installed on the space station and the THOR battlesats we launched from Vandenburg last week can do the job all by themselves, no problem. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-06-18 00:06 |