Iran tests show US missile shield not needed: Russia

MOSCOW  - Iran’s recent missile tests showed the limited range of Tehran’s arsenal and proved that a planned US missile defence shield in Europe is unnecessary, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

“The tests in Iran confirm that Iran has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres and confirm... that a missile defence shield with these parameters is not needed to monitor or react to such threats,” he said.

“We believe that any issue related to Iran should be resolved through negotiation, through political-diplomatic means... and not through threats,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow after talks with his Jordanian counterpart.

In a Friday prayers sermon broadcast on state radio in Tehran, a senior Iranian imam warned Israel and the US that they would be made to regret any attack against Iran, but denied any aggressive intent towards the Jewish state.