The U.S. military is having preliminary discussions about locating a regional anti-missile system in Germany to bolster European defense against Iran and Russia, according to a report.
The military’s desire for a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, in Europe is not new, but interest was renewed following President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the increasing range of Tehran’s ballistic missiles, Reuters reported.
But the Pentagon has denied it is deploying the defense system, which is made by Lockheed Martin and can hit and destroy incoming intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
“There are currently no plans to station THAAD systems in Germany. We do not discuss potential future military planning, as we would not want to signal our intent to potential adversaries,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told the Washington Examiner in an email.
Last month, Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, agreement with Iran on its nuclear weapons program partly because Tehran had continued to develop ballistic missiles.
The U.S. has proposed fresh sanctions and a hard-line stance against Iran instead, which has stoked anxiety in Europe where key allies had urged Trump to remain a party to the 2015 agreement.
[FULL REMARKS: Trump’s announcement withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal]
A THAAD in Germany would also further stoke tensions with Russia as the U.S. is bolstering defenses in Europe following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine.
The system was deployed last year to South Korea as North Korea was conducting provocative tests of new missiles, but the move was strongly opposed by China and met with protests by South Koreans.
