16-02-11 Iran Can't Hit Europe With Missiles,Russia Says

Iran does not today possess missiles capable of hitting a nation in Europe,but Russia could detect such a weapon fired toward the continent,a senior Russian military official said yesterday."They have no missiles of such a class," Interfax quoted Russian space forces deputy commander Lt.Gen.Sergei Lobov as saying.Lobov said his country can spot missile launches within nations including Iran,China and the United States."We see all ballistic missiles launched from foreign missile bases if they are within the line of vision of our stations," he said.Russia's launch detection system includes surveillance satellites,Interfax noted.Reconnaissance from Russia's early warning equipment "could be very useful for the missile defense (system) created in Europe," he added.Moscow and NATO are in talks on establishing a continent-wide antimissile framework