Putin: No Need for Missile Defense Shield with Iran's Nuclear Issue Resolved

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that despite the resolution of Iran's nuclear program, the United States continues to pursue the development of a missile defense shield, even though the only justification for it has disappeared. Speaking at an international meeting in Sochi on Thursday, October 30, Putin remarked, "Today, the nuclear problem of Iran has been resolved, and as we have said, there is no threat from this country. The only excuse that forced our American partners to pursue the missile defense plan has disappeared." According to the Russian news agency Interfax, he added, "We expect that work on this missile defense shield will also be halted." The Russian president referred to the initial tests of this missile defense shield, saying, "We and the whole world have once again been misled, or to put it simply, deceived." He characterized the U.S. objectives in pursuing this program as "disrupting the strategic balance and changing the status of forces" to ensure that it not only realizes its dominance but also imposes its demands on everyone, including geopolitical rivals and allies. Other Russian officials have also urged the U.S. to stop the establishment of this missile shield in the past two years following the initial and final agreements on Iran's nuclear program. Moscow claims that this program threatens Russia's security. In response, the U.S. argues that the missile defense shield is not aimed at Russia but is intended to counter potential threats from the Middle East. The U.S. missile defense plan was first proposed by the George W. Bush administration in 2007, with installations planned in the Czech Republic and Poland. However, with Barack Obama's administration, this costly plan was shelved, and a "more reliable" system that addressed immediate threats from medium-range missiles (ranging from 1,000 to 3,500 kilometers) from Iran was introduced instead. As military expert Hossein Aryan wrote for Radio Farda, the new system, referred to by the U.S. as the "European Phased Adaptive Approach," has four phases, with its main components to be deployed in Turkey, Romania, and Poland. He added that currently, the sea-based and land-based Aegis systems, which essentially form the core of the European missile defense system, do not pose a threat to Russia's strategic capabilities. However, Moscow understands that the U.S. plan to further expand the European missile defense system and utilize more advanced missiles could diminish its nuclear and strategic capabilities in the long run and shift the balance of power in favor of the West. On October 10, Iran announced the "successful" test of a new generation ground-to-ground missile named "Emad," stating that "this missile can strike designated targets with high precision and completely destroy them." The range of the "Emad" missile has been reported as 1,700 kilometers, utilizing liquid fuel. The U.S. claims that the missile has the capability to carry a nuclear warhead and, along with European countries, has called for the UN sanctions committee to investigate this missile test, describing it as a "serious violation" of UN sanctions. On October 20, Britain, Germany, and the U.S. submitted a report to the UN sanctions committee, calling for "appropriate action" regarding this matter. Tehran has denied the claim that the tested missile can carry a nuclear warhead, stating that it "will not halt its defensive and deterrent capabilities under any threat."