DUBAI, Dec 15 (Reuters) – The planned deployment of NATO
Patriot missiles along Turkey’s border with Syria could lead to
a “world war” that would threaten Europe as well, Iran’s
military chief of staff was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Turkey asked NATO for the Patriot system, designed to
intercept aircraft or missiles, in November to help bolster its
border security after repeated episodes of gunfire from war-torn
Syria spilling into Turkish territory.
General Hassan Firouzabadi, the Iranian armed forces chief,
said Iran wanted its neighbour Turkey to feel secure but called
for NATO not to deploy the Patriots in its easternmost member
state, which also borders Iran.
“Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the world
map, and is meant to cause a world war,” Firouzabadi said,
according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency. “They are making
plans for a world war, and this is very dangerous for the future
of humanity and for the future of Europe itself.”
Iran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad throughout the 21-month uprising against his rule and
long a strategic adversary of Western powers who have given
formal recognition to Syria’s opposition coalition.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order on
Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey along
with American personnel to operate them, following similar steps
by Germany and the Netherlands.
Iranian officials including parliament speaker Ali Larijani
have previously said that installing the Patriot missiles would
deepen instability in the Middle East, and the foreign ministry
spokesman said they would only worsen the conflict in Syria.
Turkey has repeatedly scrambled jets along its border with
Syria and responded in kind when shells and gunfire from the
Syrian conflict have hit its territory, fanning fears that the
civil war could inflame the wider region.
