NATO missile defense system in Turkey is to protect Israel - Iran's minister

Deployment of the NATO anti-missile system in Turkey is designed to protect Israel, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi said, Trend cites Iranian media as saying.

Vahidi said Europe is not threatened by any danger from the countries of the region, so there was no need to deploy this system in Turkey.

"The Western countries say that these systems are deployed to protect Europe. However, European countries have never made official statements about the threat posed by the countries of the region so that the United States would decide to protect them by deploying the system," Vahidi told reporters during military parade on Thursday.

According to Vahidi, deployment of the anti-missile system in Turkey is necessary to limit the power of Iran and Russia.