Larijani: US claim on missile shield project 'joke of the year'

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said Sunday the US claim that their missile shield project in Europe is intended to safeguard Europe against Iranian missiles should be called the "Joke of the year" since Iranian missiles cannot reach Europe.

Speaking to IRNA, Larijani said, "Nowadays, Americans tell jokes like this very often."

Chimpy McFlightsuit says we are not giving enough tax payer money to our plas in the "defense" Industry

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Ships packed with 17,000 sailors and Marines moved into the Persian Gulf on Wednesday as the U.S. Navy staged another show of force off Iran's coast just days before U.S.-Iran talks in Baghdad.

The carrier strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes two landing ships carrying 2,100 members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Aircraft aboard the two carriers and the Bonhomme Richard were to conduct air training while the ships ran submarine, mine and other exercises.

The war games -- which culminate in an amphibious landing exercise in Kuwait, just a few miles from Iran -- appear to be a clear warning to Tehran, coming just ahead of the Baghdad talks and as the United Nations contemplates tightening sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

"There's a link to both events," said Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center. "The Americans are sending a message to Iran that they are not coming to the negotiating table weak, but with their military at Tehran's doorstep."
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