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Romania Receives US Patriot Missiles to Bolster Defenses

A photograph made available on 13 February 2016 showing a patriot missile system unveiled by the US military during the joint South Korea-US aerial exercise Max Thunder in 2014. [Stringer/EPA]
A photograph made available on 13 February 2016 showing a patriot missile system unveiled by the US military during the joint South Korea-US aerial exercise Max Thunder in 2014. [Stringer/EPA]
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Romania Receives US Patriot Missiles to Bolster Defenses

A photograph made available on 13 February 2016 showing a patriot missile system unveiled by the US military during the joint South Korea-US aerial exercise Max Thunder in 2014. [Stringer/EPA]
A photograph made available on 13 February 2016 showing a patriot missile system unveiled by the US military during the joint South Korea-US aerial exercise Max Thunder in 2014. [Stringer/EPA]

The Romanian army received its first shipment of US Raytheon Patriot surface-to-air missiles on Thursday to boost its defenses.

“Romania has just become a safer nation by hosting these Patriot missiles on its territory. Romanian citizens are now better protected,” Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said at the receiving ceremony at a firing range on the Black Sea shore.

The missiles will form part of an integrated air defense system comprising newly acquired F-16 fighter jets as Romania brings its obsolete military equipment up to NATO standards and phases out outdated communist-era MiGs.

Worth about $4 billion, the system is an important element of the European Union and NATO member’s overhaul program as it seeks to deter any threat from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said Moscow views US missiles in eastern Europe as a great danger, and Moscow would be forced to respond by enhancing its own missile strike capability.

The US has demanded that NATO members gradually boost their defense budgets to 2% of GDP and Romania, a close US ally, was among first in Europe to do so, Reuters reported.

Romania also hosts a US ballistic missile defense station and has contributed combat troops to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Jerusalem Resident Detained for Suspected Iranian Spy Plot

Israeli security forces patrol the scene of a shooting attack near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank north of Bethlehem, on December 12, 2024. (AFP)
Israeli security forces patrol the scene of a shooting attack near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank north of Bethlehem, on December 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Jerusalem Resident Detained for Suspected Iranian Spy Plot

Israeli security forces patrol the scene of a shooting attack near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank north of Bethlehem, on December 12, 2024. (AFP)
Israeli security forces patrol the scene of a shooting attack near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank north of Bethlehem, on December 12, 2024. (AFP)

An Israeli resident of Jerusalem has been arrested on suspicion of being in contact with Iranian intelligence agents as part of a plot to carry out an attack in Israel in return for payment, Israeli security forces said on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old man was activated by an Iranian agent known as "John" in October and arrested in November on suspicion of committing security offences, said a joint statement from spokeswomen for the Shin Bet security service and Israel police.

It said their investigation showed he had proposed cutting off the power to the Jerusalem light rail system and sent a video to his Iranian operator in an attempt to locate the power supply.

It said he searched social networks to purchase a gun, a silencer and materials to produce explosives for the purpose of carrying out an attack in Israel.

The suspect had been detained and an indictment was expected in coming days, the statement read.

Reuters reported last week on the arrest of almost 30 mostly Jewish citizens who allegedly spied for Iran in nine covert cells in what four Israeli security sources said was Tehran's biggest effort in decades to infiltrate its arch foe.

The arrests followed repeated Iranian intelligence efforts over the last two years to recruit ordinary Israelis to gather intelligence and carry out attacks in exchange for money, the four officials said.