What causes concern of Iran in issue of deploying Patriots in Turkey?

After a warning of Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani during his visit to Turkey on Nov.27 about dispatching NATO's Patriot defensive missiles near Turkey's border with Syria, some Iranian army generals threatened the western neighbour about the consequences of establishing Patriots.

Turkey has more than 900 km length border with Syria which has been challenged by an internal war for about two years.

Last month some Syrian bombs fell on Turkey's villages on the border and left several injured and dead. This is what Turkey has argued as to the reason of establishing defensive systems in the border area with Syria.

However, senior advisor to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Yadollah Javani said on Nov.27 that "Turkey will suffer much detriment from establishing patriots in their territory".

The Syrian government is Iran's major ally and Tehran attempts to seriously support Bashar Assad against the rebels.

As anyone knows, the Patriot missiles' function is only as a defensive system against missiles and warplanes, it is not offensive equipment. This means that in a normal situation, it should not make any country concerned.

Regarding this fact that these missile defensive systems have been established twice before in Turkey during the U.S. attacks on Iraq in 1991 and 2003, re-establishing them in Turkish territory might mean NATO's determination and preparation to intensify arming the rebels in Syria with heavy weapons, or impose a no-fly zone in the country, or even launch military intervention on the Syrian army, as happened in Iraq.


Dalga Khatinoglu /Trend/