Iran Slams US Defense Missile Deployment in Gulf

Larijani condemned the deployment during a parliament speech in which he also praised Iran's independent foreign policy set forth by Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Larijani says the U.S. decision to base Patriot missiles in four Gulf states, announced last week, was provocative and a threat to the region:

He says the US is justifying its plan to deploy the missiles by pointing to regional concerns over Iran. Unfortunately, he claims, Obama administration officials don't understand that the U.S. is the cause of the region's problems. The missiles, he complains, will cause concern to the countries where they are based, as well as putting U.S. soldiers at risk.

General David Petraeus, chief of the U.S. Central Command, said in several recent speeches that the U.S. was pursuing a defensive strategy in the Gulf, which included upgrading Patriot missile systems, which can now knock out missiles in flight. Iran possesses missiles with a range of 2012 kilometers that can hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region.