Expansion of the United States Missile Defence Systems in the Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran Security

Turkey’s agreement with the NATO expansion scheme at the Lisbon summit has marked the beginning of a new stage for United States efforts to develop and expand missile defence systems in the Middle East. Formerly, the US had taken a series of measures to boost the regional countries’ air defence capabilities so as to confront what it usually called missile threats from certain states in the Middle East. Selling Patriot air defence systems to four Arab states of the Persian Gulf and supplying the Zionist regime with “X-Band” radars and other air defence equipment are clear examples of such measures. Nonetheless, following the change in the US defence policy during Obama administration and Turkish agreement with the NATO plan to establish missile defence shield systems in its soil, security circumstances in the region have change dramatically. Political and security dimensions of the US and NATO air defence plans in Turkey are more complex than those seen and experienced in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. This article aims to assess these developments with regard to the Islamic Republic of Iran security.