ROME, November 25 (RIA Novosti) – Implementation of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program reached in Geneva this weekend will make the US missile defense system in Europe unnecessary, Russia’s foreign minister said Monday.
“If the agreement on Iran is implemented, the reason named as a necessity to establish a missile defense system in Europe will drop away,” Sergei Lavrov said while speaking at a media forum in Rome.
Iran and six international negotiators struck a deal early Sunday to slow the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Tehran will get some $7 billion in relief from sanctions. The deal also stipulates that international observers will monitor nuclear sites in the country.
NATO and the United States say the US missile defense system in Europe is designed to counter threats from North Korea and Iran. The system has been a sore point in US-Russian relations for years.
Russia and NATO formally agreed to cooperate over the European missile defense system at the 2010 NATO summit in Lisbon, but talks foundered, in part over Russian demands for legal guarantees that the system would not target its strategic nuclear deterrent.
