European missile defense system: against whom is it intended?

A forgotten geopolitical issue has drawn attention to itself again after the agreement concerning the closure of the Iranian nuclear dossier between the western countries and Iran was reached. This issue is the NATO missile defense system. It is known that previously Iran was considered the main threat to European security and the cause of deployment of the missile defense system in close proximity to Russia's borders. Now that the negotiations concerning the Iranian nuclear programme have been resumed, the question of against whom the European missile defense is intended is a topic of discussion. 

Head of the Russian parliamentary committee for international relations Alexei Pushkov discussed this topic with VK. "As we know, references to the so-called " Iranian threat " constitute the basis of justification of European defense system deployment. Once we were told that this system is intended against North Korea. However, due to the fact that this version caused lots of laughter, NATO realized how anecdotal this statement was and said that this system is intended against Iran. But now, if the problem with Iran's nuclear program is resolved under the condition that Iran will continue limited uranium enrichment, which does not make creation of nuclear weapons possible, the Iranian threat is eliminated," Pushkov said.

As a result, the missile defense system in Europe simply loses the supposed reason for its existence and necessity. "Putin has correctly noted that if the Iranian threat has gone, why hasn’t the missile defense system? I think that our Western partners will be unable to answer this question. I remember NATO official representatives tell us that 30 countries pose a missile threat to Europe. I asked them to name at least five of them." They named Iran. I asked "Are the rest of these 5 countries Iran , too ?" The European missile defense system has no official justification," Pushkov said.

"The reality is that US influence in NATO is weakening. Only 3 NATO member countries meet their financial obligations. In this situation, the USA  needs a new military and strategically tough tie with Europe, and the missile defense system, according to their plans, should constitute an inseparable link between the European nations and the USA, regardless of a decrease in NATO's efficiency. This is the primary aim," Alexei Pushkov said.

“The second aim is partial neutralization of Russia's nuclear potential. I think that there are no other aims, and everything except this is just tales, including versions about North Korea and Iran, and this has become absolutely evident now. If the latest diplomatic initiative, сrowned with success at the negotiations in Geneva, 

gains momentum, the Iranian issue will be taken off the table, the missile system will have no justification at all. However, it doesn’t imply that USA will drop the project. They will devise something else,” Pushkov said. 

The Iranian police have arrested an alleged British spy in the city of Kerman today, the head of the Kerman Revolutionary court Dadha Salari said. He also reported that the spy provided secret information concerning Iranian facilities to British intelligence agencies 11 times. There is no information concerning the nationality of the arrested man.