TEHRAN (Basirat)-Tuesday's talks between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey were held in the immediate wake of a grizzly terrorist attack in Ankara in which Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated by a gunman while visiting an art gallery in the Turkish capital.

Tuesday's talks between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey were held in the immediate wake of a grizzly terrorist attack in Ankara in which Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated by a gunman while visiting an art gallery in the Turkish capital.The United States confirmed its readiness to further deploy
strategic weapons in South Korea to counter threats from the North, US
and South Korean defense officials said in a joint statement after
holding a US-Korean Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group
(EDSCG) meeting in Washington.
"In response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the officials
reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. to regularly deploy U.S.
strategic assets for the defense of the Republic of Korea," the
statement, published by the US State Department on Tuesday, said.In July, Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy a Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea's
Seongju County amid growing tensions spurred by North Korea's ballistic
and nuclear tests. The THAAD system is designed to intercept short,
medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at the terminal incoming
stage. The move has been criticized by neighboring China and Russia as
inappropriate, possibly disproportionate and affecting other countries'
interests.
Two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors are
launched during a successful intercept test
© Flickr/ U.S. Missile Defense Agency
THAAD Decision Derails Seoul-Beijing Military Talks
In the statement, officials stressed that the move highlighted US
commitments to deterring Pyongyang's alleged aggression against Seoul,
adding that the United States is ready to provide South Korea with
defense against nuclear, conventional and missile attacks.
On September 5, Pyongyang launched three ballistic missiles in the
direction of the Sea of Japan. Several days later it conducted a
successful test of a nuclear warhead, which is believed to be the fifth
and largest blast since Pyongyang began pursuing nuclear and ballistic
missile programs. On October 14, North Korea carried out a failed test
of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile near the
northwestern city of Kusong. The tests came in violation of UN Security
Council resolutions.
Pyongyang has insisted on the United States signing a peace treaty
instead of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement which ended the Korean
War, but Washington has rejected the proposals.