Iran says deployment of US missiles in Middle East doomed

Deployment of US missiles in the Middle East is doomed to failure, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.

In reaction to press reports that US Vice-President Dick Cheney would raise the issue with Turkish officials in a visit to Turkey, Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that such a plan will trigger an arms race and is detrimental to the interests of regional states.

"Of course, the Turkish officials have not commented on the issue. The US missile base is a military and security threat to the region." Iran is quite sure that Turkey would never allow its territory to turn into a military base for the trans-regional powers to satisfy their avarice for resources of the Middle East nations, he said.