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Iran Warns Against US Missile Program-Induced Arms Race
Iran on Sunday warned against a new round of arms race, to be triggered by the proposed missile defense program of the United States.
The US move to go ahead with its missile defense plan "is a step toward disturbing the world strategic balance," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
The US justification of the so-called National Missile Defense (NMD) system was "unfounded and exaggerated," Asefi was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency.
The US says that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed in 1972 with the former Soviet Union, is out-dated, claiming that it needs a missile defense shield in case of any attacks by what it terms as "rogue states."
Asefi said that Washington is, in fact, trying to "dominate the world as a unique power" through such military measures.
He called for an "immediate end" to the US plan, which he said is pushing the world to the verge of arms race.
In the year designated by the United Nations as the "year of dialog among civilizations," all governments should conduct such dialogs through peaceful means, he said.
The US conducted a fourth test for the controversial NMD system on July 14. The U.S. military described the test as " successful," pledging more tests in the coming years.
The plan has caused widespread concern, even among many of the U.S. NATO allies, who also fear that the NMD would spark nuclear proliferation.
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