US missile defence threatens Asia: Iran

BISHKEK: A proposed US missile defence shield in central Europe would threaten Asia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday at a regional summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.   

"Such a plan goes beyond threatening one country. It concerns most of the continent, Asia," he said at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), according to a translation by organisers.   

According to Ahmadinejad, the six countries of the SCO, including China, are among those threatened.   

His remarks, made in Farsi, were simultaneously translated into Russian in a television link-up provided by summit organisers for journalists.   

Iran has observer status in the SCO, which comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.   

Washington says that Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions are one of the main reasons that missile defences are needed in central Europe.   

The Pentagon wants to build a radar station in the Czech Republic and a launching site in Poland with 10 long-range interceptors capable of shooting down missiles.   

According to the Pentagon, the system would defend Europe against attack from limited missile strikes by smaller military powers such as Iran, which Washington claims is reaching for a nuclear missile capability.   

US authorities also name North Korea as a future threat.

Russia has led opposition to the plan, saying the defences would undermine its own massive nuclear missile force and upset the strategic military balance.   

The United States rejects that, saying the Russians could easily overwhelm the system.