Iran Claims Russia May Not Share Azerbaijan Base with U.S.

Via Washington Post -

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Russia has indicated it will not allow the United States to use a radar station in Azerbaijan for missile defense against Iran, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in dispute with the United States over the location in eastern Europe of a planned American missile defense system, had offered instead to share a radar site in Azerbaijan.

But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Russia had no intention of letting Washington use the station in Azerbaijan, which has borders with Iran and Russia.

"It seems Russia does not intend to make decisions that may result in instability and insecurity in a region that it is located itself in," Hosseini told a weekly news conference.

The United States told Russia on Thursday the Kremlin's offer could not replace its plans to site the missile shield in eastern Europe to counter any missile launch by Tehran.