Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stated during his visit to Iran that the U.S missile shield system to be deployed under the umbrella of NATO targets no neighboring country including Iran. Davutoglu said that they would not allow their neighbors to be attacked from Turkish territory.

Visiting Iran to hold talks on ascending crisis in Persian Gulf, new EU sanctions to be imposed on Iran, Turkey-Iran relations, Iran’s nuclear energy activities, NATO’s missile shield system and Syria, Davutoglu met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Jan. 12. After the talks, Davutoglu said that NATO defense system to be placed in Turkey’s southeastern Malatya province would not target any neighboring country including Iran during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi.

“Turkey has no plan to attack any country. If any of our neighbors deployed such a defense system, we would not perceive it as a threat, but respect it. We would never take any step that could negatively affect our relations with our neighbor. The radar system will be placed in Turkey. It is a part of NATO’s defense system. It cannot be a threat against our neighbors,” Davutoglu said, pointing out that Iran was not indicated as a threat or target in documents of missile defense system to be deployed in Europe, Turkish Press reported.