Washington, September 19: The US might restore its missile defense plan for Europe if intelligence about Iran posing a less immediate long-range missile threat proved wrong, the US defense secretary says.
After a Friday meeting with Czech Minister of Defense Martin Bartak, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that research and development on ground-based interceptors would continue as a fallback.
The US decision to refocus missile defense plans is claimed to be based on a revised intelligence assessment which claims Iran’s short- to medium-range missile capabilities could be more imminent than previously estimated.
The May 2009 National Intelligence Estimate predicted that Tehran was unlikely to have a long-range missile until between 2015 and 2020, five years longer than the estimate deemed at the time of former US president Gorge W. Bush.
“I probably am more familiar with the risks of over-reliance on intelligence than anybody because I’ve seen how often it’s been wrong,” Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.
Gates has cautioned against waiting too long to put defenses in place.
Iranian officials have denied the allegations, saying the missile defense plan is in line with the US growing hegemony in the region.
—–Agencies