NATO rejects Iranian accusations on Turkey Patriots
By REUTERS
BRUSSELS - NATO's secretary-general on Monday rejected charges by Iran's armed forces chief that the Western alliance was risking a world war with plans to put Patriot anti-missile systems near Turkey's border with Syria, saying the move was purely defensive.NATO agreed this month to send Patriot missiles to Turkey to protect its ally against possible attack from neighboring Syria, where a 21-month-old civil war is raging. Turkey has harbored some Syrian rebels and refugees, and there have been episodes of gunfire from Syria hitting Turkish territory."I completely denounce these (Iranian) allegations. We have made clear right from the outset that the deployment of Patriots is a purely defensive measure," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference after talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. "We are there to defend and protect our ally Turkey. We have no offensive intentions whatsoever."Rasmussen said he believed the only people who might be concerned about NATO's pending deployment of Patriot missiles were "actors that might have silly ideas to use their missile capabilities for offensive purposes.
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