The U.S. White House said on Friday that the latest intelligence report downgrading the threat from Iran's nuclear issue has no impact on U.S. planned missile shield in Eastern Europe.
"I don't believe it's had any change on missile defense, certainly nothing that I've heard, nor should it," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.
"It's a long-term effort to protect our allies from threats from missiles, and I think that effort is proceeding," said Fratto. "We expect that to continue, it shouldn't change anything."
The latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), the formal consensus of all 16 U.S. spy agencies, said Monday Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, a stark reversal of previous intelligence assessments that Iran was actively moving toward a bomb.
The United States has been trying to place missile defense assets in the Czech Republic and Poland as part of shield to defend against missiles from "rogue states" such as Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Russia objects to the U.S. plan saying that could upset the strategic balance and threaten Russian security.
Source: Xinhua
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