Iran’s missile power altering US-imposed balance of power in Mideast: Analyst

Iran’s missile program has disrupted the strategic military calculations of the United States in the Middle East, altering the balance of power in a region where Washington has long sought to maintain a military edge, according to a political analyst.

“The US fears Iran is upsetting the hitherto American-enforced regional balance of power whereby Washington and its allies were supposed to have a decisive military advantage over the Islamic Republic,” Andrew Korybko, a Moscow-based American political commentator, told Press TV in a phone interview on Saturday.

“That country’s missile program changed the strategic military calculations by restoring an actual balance between the opposing sides,” he added.

Stressing that Iran’s missile program has increased the cost of a potential military confrontation for the United States, Korybko said it caused Americans to second-guess their policies and resort to unconventional means to destabilize Iran, including through proxy warfare against its regional partners.

Asked whether Iran deserves the right to develop its defensive ballistic missile program, the American political analyst responded positively and said Iran has the right to defend its national security interests.

“The US and its regional allies used to enjoy a decisive military advantage but that’s no longer the case now that Iran can credibly ensure its second-strike capabilities through its defensive missile program,” Korybko said.

“Those countries feel uncomfortable that they can no longer attempt to militarily coerce the Islamic Republic into unilateral political concessions through conventional means like they tried but always failed to do in the past. In response, they’re fear-mongering about Iran’s intentions,” he added.

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Commending Iran’s great achievements in its ballistic missiles program despite decades of US sanctions, the political commentator said the achievements speak to the success of what Iran regards as its “Resistance Economy” and the failure of the so-called US pressure campaign.

“The country was able to make impressive progress on its missile program despite immense foreign pressure upon it. Its leadership, military-intelligence structures, scientists, and general population deserve credit for this. Not many countries in similar positions could ever achieve even a fraction of what Iran already has. The Islamic Republic clearly proved that the US-led maximum pressure campaign has failed,” Korybko said.

“Other sanctioned countries can learn from Iran’s example in this respect. Unity of national security purpose, cohesive working relations between its relevant structures, and socioeconomic resilience are responsible for Iran’s successes,” he noted.

US magazine: Iran much better armed, more influential than any time in modern history

The current occupant of the White House and his administration face an Iran that is much better armed and more influential than at any other time in its modern history, American weekly magazine The New Yorker says.

Despite decades of Washington-imposed sanctions, Iran has made great achievements in its ballistic missiles program.

A Pentagon study has recently acknowledged Iran’s missile power, saying its arsenal is larger than that of any other Middle Eastern country.

"Iran has an extensive missile development program, and the size and sophistication of its missile force continue to grow despite decades of counter-proliferation efforts aimed at curbing its advancement," according to the Pentagon.

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