New US ABMs: Threat To Iran

The US anti-missile defense system in the Gulf threatens Iran, the head of Russia’s Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov stated during a round table Friday. He finds a military scenario in Iran highly probable but everything will depend on the forthcoming talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

On April 5, the US and a number of the Gulf countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) agreed on a joint ABM system to shield from Iranian missiles. Strategies of this kind only increase tension in the region, believes Alexei Pushkov

“I’m surprised that Iran is depicted as some mad country which plans to strike Europe. Tehran can only respond to strikes while Americans still suspect it of hostile intentions. According to the logic, any nuclear power can be suspected of military intentions.”

Iran’s nuclear program may well become the global issue 2012. Now the situation has all grounds for the worst case scenario. Taking into account recent statements by some countries, a military scenario is highly probable which causes concern. Russia doesn’t accept military solution of the conflict as it will only make the situation worse.

The Big Six mediators (Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US and France) are to talk with Iran soon. The dialogue was suspended a year ago and is to bring the parties closer to the resolution of the world’s most serious crisis believes Russia’s Ambassador at large Alexander Sadovnikov

“The forum is to search for solutions to Iran’s nuclear problem. What matters is the sincere intention of the parties, primarily Western countries, and their readiness to solve the conflict peacefully. Tehran also needs to be open and convince the global community that it’s not producing nuclear weapons. At this stage the Big Six plays the main part in preventing the conflict.”

The US and a number of Western countries accuse Iran of producing nuclear weapons which the latter rejects claiming that its program is peaceful. The UN and the US have imposed sanctions on Iran but experts believe that these measures and a possible military strike only undermine trust between the parties.