Speaking in the Czech Republic, Pentagon official Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III told the country’s Parliament that it would not take long before Iran will be able to strike against every single European country. The U.S. too would be within reach of Iranian missiles, Obering said, in five to six years.

Obering spoke in Prague in an attempt to convince the country’s Parliament to support the decision of the government to let the U.S. build part of its missile defense system in the eastern European country.

Now keep in mind that French intelligence officials believe that Iran will be able to build its first nuclear bomb in the summer of 2009. That means that one year from now, Iran will be able to destroy an entire European city by just one strike. Shortly after, of course, more cities will be within Iran’s reach, for the country will continue to build nuclear weapons once it has one; it wants more.

Not only would this put Europe and later the U.S. at risk, it would also dramatically alter the balance in the region. If Iran is capable of striking against Europe, and later against the United States, the West will be unlikely to act against Iran when it tries to, say, take over other countries in the region. This means that Iran will become the region’s superpower.

These developments make it even more important for the West to build the missile defense system and to make sure that Iran will not be able to put nuclear heads on its missiles.