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PRAGUE: US President Barack Obama said Sunday he would move forward with a plan to base a missile defence shield in central Europe despite Russian objections, saying the threat posed by Iran remained real.
"Let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran's neighbours and our allies," Obama said in a keynote speech on nuclear proliferation in Prague.
"The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defence against these missiles.
"As long as the threat from Iran persists, we intend to go forward with a missile defence system that is cost-effective and proven."
The plan to base the shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic, unveiled by Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, has been fiercely denounced by Moscow which at one stage threatened to respond by placing missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad which borders Poland and Lithuania.
Obama stressed the aim of the shield was to counter Iran, which insists that its ongoing nuclear programme is only designed to meet energy needs, and indicated the plan would be dropped when Iran is no longer deemed a threat.
"As long as the threat from Iran persists, we intend to go forward with a missile defence system that is cost-effective and proven," he said.
"If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defence construction in Europe at this time will be removed," he added.
Following Obama's' comments on the shield, which also featured in talks between the US president and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, the Prague government said it was convinced of the need for an anti-missile shield on its soil.
"We are convinced the anti-missile defence system is necessary and that it will be in operation sooner or later," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova told AFP.
"The radar should be here, because it is a system that will defend us against a certain type of threat that is here and that will be an issue several years from now."
Obama said that Iran had yet to build a nuclear weapon and his administration would try to engage Tehran, to whom he has already made overtures, and present it with a choice.
"We want Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations, politically and economically. We will support Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy with rigorous inspections. That is a path that the Islamic Republic can take," he said.
"Or the government can choose increased isolation, international pressure, and a potential nuclear arms race in the region that will increase insecurity for all."
- AFP/yt
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