Poland and the United States have signed a deal on a future US anti-missile shield in Europe which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said would help ward off threats from Iran. <br/><br/>This is the first agreement that implements the US European-based Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) for ballistic missile defense and enables the stationing of a US land-based SM-3 missile defense interceptor system in the Republic of Poland. <br/><br/>The agreement marks an important step to protect the NATO allies from the threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. In the wake of a re-evaluation of Iran's capabilities, rather than long-range missiles, the new US missile shield plan is designed to counter short- and medium-range weapons.