Poland refuses to lend Patriot missile systems for Iran war

The US has reportedly asked the NATO member to help intercept strikes on American bases in the Middle East

Poland will not relocate its American-made Patriot air defense missile systems to the Middle East to help the US intercept attacks from Iran, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said.

Despite US President Donald Trump claiming that the Pentagon has an “unlimited” stockpile of weapons, the US-Israeli bombing campaign launched on February 28 has failed to thwart Iran’s ability to strike American bases in the region.

On Tuesday, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that the US had requested that Warsaw lend at least two of its Patriot systems, along with PAC-3 MSE missiles previously sold to Poland, for the war with Iran.

“Our Patriot batteries and their armament are used to protect Polish airspace and NATO’s eastern flank. Nothing is changing in this regard, and we are not planning to relocate them anywhere,” Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X on Tuesday.

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“Our allies fully understand how important our mission here is. Poland’s security is an absolute priority.” 

Seven US service members have been killed and nearly 350 wounded in Iranian strikes since the conflict began. Iranian missiles and drones have damaged or destroyed several expensive US radars and an E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control aircraft, according to satellite imagery and on-scene footage.

Trump has admonished NATO members in Europe for refusing to send warships to help the US secure the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to withdraw from the military bloc, which he described as a “paper tiger.” One of the most vocal opponents of the Iran war is Spain, which has refused to allow the US to use its airspace and joint bases for attacks on Iran.