TEHRAN – Iran's defense minister on Saturday denied US assertions that its missiles posed a threat to Europe and said Washington was spreading propaganda. Ahmad Vahidi accused US counterpart, Robert Gates of engaging in "psychological warfare" when he said on Thursday US intelligence showed Iran had "scores or even hundreds" of missiles it could use against Europe. "Iran's missile capability has been designed and built to defend itself against any military aggression and it does not impose a threat to any country," Vahidi told the students' news agency ISNA. "America creates propaganda with the aim of spreading its dominance over Europe and finding excuses not to eliminate its nuclear weapons in the region and to put pressure on Russia." The United States succeeded in persuading Russia, and fellow UN Security Council veto-holder China, to support a fourth round of sanctions earlier this month against Iran over its disputed nuclear energy programme. Moscow later criticised the United States and the European Union for imposing sanctions going well beyond those approved by the UN Security Council, comments which Gates said showed Russia's "schizophrenic" approach to Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad severely criticized Moscow last month when it became clear Russia would back Washington's push for widened UN sanctions , but Iranian rhetoric since then has softened. Vahidi said the United States aimed to humiliate its former Cold War adversary, which has significant trade ties with Iran. "America ... tries to humiliate Russia by creating regional disputes and straining regional relationships to undermine Russia's position in the region," he said. "It is the consequence of trusting a government which is not trustworthy." Iran, the world's No. 5 oil producer, says its nuclear fuel enrichment program is a peaceful effort to generate more electricity for its rapidly growing population. But its refusal to stop refining uranium - a process with both civilian and military uses - in exchange for trade and diplomatic benefits on offer has led the West to suspect it is after nuclear weapons - a concern which has brought about four sets of United Nations sanctions against Tehran since 2006.
