The head of Iran's defense ministry, Hossein Dehghan, said Thursday that he would like to see world powers of the East - Russia, China and India - work together with Tehran to develop defense strategies to counter NATO's expansion in Europe.
"I'd like to support the idea of developing multifaceted defense cooperation between China, Iran, India and Russia to counter NATO eastwards expansion and installing a missile shield in Europe," Dehghan said at an international security conference in Moscow, reported RT.
Dehghan went on to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Afterwards, Dehghan said that Russia, China and Iran may soon hold talks to discuss how to improve regional security.
"We discussed certain aspects of regional security. It was proposed to hold a trilateral meeting of Russia, Iran and China," he said, according to RIA Novosti.
NATO has been expanding its presence in Eastern Europe due in part to perceived Russian aggression, particularly in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been accused of arming anti-Ukrainian militia working to overthrow the government. In 2014, NATO also intercepted a record number of Russian planes and ships as they approached the airspace of other countries, according to The Independent.
Part of that NATO expansion includes installing U.S.-led missile-defense shields in ally countries, which Russia views as a threat and has said could "become the objects of priority response," according to The Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this week, Russia said it will soon begin selling sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles systems to Iran, which are capable of engaging multiple aircraft and missiles flying 16 miles high. China also plans to assist Iran by helping it build five new nuclear plants across the country, Tehran's Atomic Energy Organization said.
