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Romania was chosen after initial plans involving Poland and the Czech Republic were dropped.

Romanian President Traian Basescu told the European Union in a brief statement in Brussels Thursday that his country's top security body had accepted U.S. President Obama's invitation to host parts of the missile defense system, expected to be online in 2015.

Basescu stressed that the system was aimed against threats coming from countries such as Iran, not Russia. Previous plans would have put interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic, a deployment seen by some as a direct threat to Russia.

Basescu also said the previous version would not have covered his country's territory in case of an Iranian missile attack. The Romanian Parliament has the last say on the deal.

Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said the plan was first presented to Basescu during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Bucharest in October but was not made public.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said this announcement was a "first step" in terms of the new anti-missile shield architecture, which would later also include ship-based interceptors in the Black Sea.

Crowley said that Poland was still in talks for a "northern land-based" missile site.

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