The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is increasing its vigilance as the Islamic Republic continues its drive toward nuclear development, and it has begun to take a deeper interest in Iran's military capability.
While NATO has not expressed any particular interest in forming plans to attack Iran's nuclear installations, it nonetheless has begun to discuss "the way it affects force structure and building," according to an Israeli official quoted this week by The Jerusalem Post. The international force, said the official, "is preparing for all possibilities."
A December 2006 international conference on global terrorism organized by Israeli military intelligence led eventually to an agreement between NATO and the Jewish State to share information.
The United States and NATO recently advanced plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Europe, and have begun to consider how the Iranian nuclear developments might impact those installations. One reason for the missile shield in Europe was to specifically guard the region from the growing Iranian nuclear threat, said a NATO official.
"Iran can now reach Israel but still wants to develop longer ranges. We believe that in the forseeable future, Iran could fire conventional or nuclear-tipped missiles into Europe," the official said.
The Obama administration is currently reviewing plans formulated by the previous Bush administration to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic and a battery of ballistic missile launchers in Poland. Russia has vehemently opposed the installation of the missiles in Poland, deeming them to be a threat to its own territory. Meanwhile, Russia has continued to assist Iran in building its nuclear installation at Bushehr.