Iran criticizes NATO's Turkey radar plan

A senior Iranian diplomat criticized neighboring Turkey yesterday for agreeing to host an early warning radar as part of NATO’s missile defense system for Europe.  “We believe that any kind of presence around our borders by countries from outside the region will not improve security in the region but will actually do the opposite,” the official IRNA news agency quoted deputy foreign minister for consular affairs Hassan Ghashghavi as saying. “Iran and Turkey are two friendly neighboring nations... and have the ability to fully preserve their own security without any foreign intervention,” he added. The Turkish foreign ministry announced on Friday that technical negotiations on the deployment of the radar had “reached a final stage,” in a move swiftly welcomed by Washington. “The hope is to have it deployed by the end of this year,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.  Leaders of the 28-member NATO alliance gave their backing last year for the Europe-wide ballistic missile shield, which U.S. officials say is aimed at thwarting missile threats from Iran.