WARSAW (Sputnik) – According to the politician, Iran was not the only reason for US missiles being deployed in Eastern Europe.
"Indeed, even today, some Polish politicians say that the [Iran nuclear] agreement may hinder or even stop construction of the US missile defense system. Plans to deploy a missile defense [system] in Poland were [proposed] a few years ago, Americans really claimed that the main objective [of US missile deployment] was the threat from Iran," Iwinski said Wednesday.
The United States asserts that its land-based missile systems will not be directed against Russia.
"However, let's face it, the exacerbation of Russia-US relations makes many people think that it is unlikely that the issue was only with Iran," Iwinski said.
He pointed out that even at present, should the missile defense system be deployed in Poland, it would certainly be directed against Russia's defense systems.
"In particular, [against] the Iskander [SS-26 Stone] systems in Russia’s Kaliningrad Region," he specified.
The following day, a US State Department official told Sputnik that the historic agreement on Iran's nuclear program did not remove the need for European ballistic missile defenses to counter any potential threat from Tehran.