A top Iranian military commander warned Turkey on Saturday against stationing NATO anti-missile systems on its territory, saying such a move risks conflict with Syria.
The remarks by army chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi were carried on state TV the day after the Pentagon announced it would send two batteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a larger NATO force to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attacks.
Firouzabadi said the Patriot deployment was aimed at protecting Israel from Iranian missile attacks and inhibit a potential Russian military defense of Syria.
“The wise and the elite in Europe, US and Turkey should dismantle the Patriots and take them away from the region before a fire breaks out,” Firouzabadi was quoted as saying.
FRIEND
“We are a friend of Turkey, we want security with Turkey, not Turkey being attacked through Syria so that they would want to deploy Patriots there,” Firouzabadi said.
“Patriot missiles are a defense line for the Zionists and a result of [the West’s] concerns over Iran’s missiles and Russia’s presence to defend Syria,” he said.
“Western countries approve the deployment of Patriots on the Syria-Turkey border as they design a world war,” he said in a separate quote carried by state TV’s Web site.
Iran and Russia are two of Damascus’ key allies. Tehran has provided Syria with military and political backing for years, and has kept up its strong support for the regime since the Syrian uprising began in March last year.
LOSING CONTROL
On Thursday, a top Russian diplomat said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing control of his country. However, on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a convoluted denial, saying its top envoy for Syria was merely characterizing the opinion of the Syrian opposition rather than stating Russia’s view.
A number of Syrian shells have landed in Turkish territory since the conflict began. Turkey has condemned al-Assad’s regime, supported Syrian rebels and provided shelter to Syrian refugees. Ankara is particularly worried that Assad may get desperate enough to use chemical weapons.
In addition to the US Patriot deployment, Germany and the Netherlands also agreed to provide two batteries of the US-built defense systems and send up to 400 German and 360 Dutch troops to man them, bringing the total number of Patriot batteries slated for Turkey to six.
Also Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister said his country would not allow al-Assad’s regime in Syria to fall.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran won’t allow Western plans and scenarios aimed at overthrowing the Syrian government to succeed,” Ali Akbar Salehi said in comments posted on state TV’s Web site.
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