Turkey and the United States have concluded a deal to host an early warning radar system in the eastern province of Malatya as part of a NATO missile defense program to counter threats mainly from Iran.

Last year in Lisbon NATO approved a new strategic concept which calls for the development of an anti-ballistic defense system in response to growing threats from Iran and North Korea.

Turkey approved the concept only after receiving a series of guarantees among which was the need for the allies not to single out Iran as the sole threat against NATO.