(Repeats story published late on Tuesday)
By John Whitesides
WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday a final decision on deployment
of a missile shield in eastern and central Europe hinged in part
on Iran's willingness to curb its nuclear ambitions.
"This is one of those issues that really will rest with the
decisions made by the Iranian government," Clinton said of plans
to install radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor rockets
in Poland to shield against ballistic missiles fired by "rogue"
countries like Iran.
"If we are able to see a change in behavior on the part of
the Iranians with respect to what we believe to be their pursuit
of nuclear weapons, then we will reconsider where we stand," she
told reporters after meeting Czech Foreign Minister Karel
Schwarzenberg.
The U.S. missile shield plans have rankled Moscow, which
sees the system as a threat and opposes the deployment on the
territory of its former communist satellites.
At a security conference in Germany last weekend, Vice
President Joe Biden said the United States would continue to
develop the missile shield but that it was time to "reset"
fractious relations with Russia.
The United States works with Russia and other major powers
on reining in Iran's nuclear plans but Moscow has balked at more
punitive measures against Tehran, partly because of clashes with
Washington over issues like missile defense.
Clinton said last week the Obama administration wanted to
work more closely with Russia on tackling Iran's nuclear
ambitions and some analysts believe such cooperation could
result in U.S. compromises on missile defense.
Russian officials recently said Moscow would not install
Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad if the United States does not
deploy the missile shield, a move widely interpreted as a
goodwill gesture toward new U.S. President Barack Obama.
'STRONG DEFENSE'
After meeting Schwarzenberg, Clinton praised the Czechs for
"stepping up and being a partner to provide a strong defense in
Europe against Iranian aggression."
She said they had a "good" discussion of the missile shield
plans, which the Czech Senate approved last year.
"We are first and foremost very grateful to the Czech
Republic ... for working with us to try to deter the threat from
Iran," Clinton said.
Obama has said final decisions on installing the missile
defense system rest on questions of cost effectiveness and
technical feasibility.
Clinton said questions about the plan were largely technical
but she repeated the frequent Obama administration line that the
Iranians had an opportunity to "unclench their fist" and curtail
their nuclear program.
"If the Iranians continue on this path, certainly one of the
options for free countries, the Czech Republic, other Europeans
and the United States, is to defend ourselves," Clinton said.
"We have to be realistic. Our slogan can be hope for the
best but plan for the worst," she said.
"I think what the Czech government and the Polish government
did in saying we want to be prepared in the event that we are
unable to dissuade, deter the Iranians from pursuing nuclear
weapons makes a great deal of sense."
(Editing by John O'Callaghan)
