Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Iran’s nuclear deal with the West leaves no place for the deployment of the long-touted US missile system in Europe.
“If the Iran deal is put into practice, the stated reason for the construction of the defense shield will no longer apply,” Lavrov said in Rome on Monday.

NATO is currently rolling out its new Europe-wide missile shield, which will include two interceptor bases close to the Russian border in Romania and Poland. The bases, set to be operational by 2015, will be able to shoot down short and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Russia has long protested the placement of such bases on its borders. Moscow has called for shared control of any anti-missile shield, saying the aim of the Eastern European system is to encircle Russia, but Washington claims the bases are directed against a potential threat from Iran.

In February, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western alliance will continue its missile system plans in Europe despite Russia’s opposition.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Britain, Russia, France, China-- plus Germany, sealed an interim deal in Geneva on Sunday morning to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.

In exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the United States and its allies have agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions and offer access to a portion of the revenue that Tehran has been denied through these sanctions.

By Press TV

 

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