Russia Reverses on S-300 Missile Sale to Iran
Kremlin Now Says Sanctions Do Ban Defensive Missiles
by Jason Ditz, June 11, 2010
Today, Russia has reversed that position entirely, and the Kremlin says that the sanctions actually do forbid the sale. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin insists that the sale has been frozen.Russia initially signed the pact to deliver the missiles in 2007, and over the past several years has maintained that the sale was still on track, though they never delivered any part of the system.
Iran was keen to buy the missiles, the backbone of Russia’s air defense, as a hedge against the oft-threatened Israeli attack against them. Israel repeatedly dispatched officials to Russia regarding the possible delivery, on differing occasions pleading with Russia or threatening them over the possible delivery.
With the S-300’s delivery now permanently on hold, and the US already moving forward with threats for more sanctions against Iran, the Iranian government will likely attempt to develop other defensive or retaliatory measures in the event that the attack eventually does happen.
From The Times
ReplyDeleteJune 12, 2010
Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites
Hugh Tomlinson
Israeli officials refused to comment yesterday on details for a raid on Iran, which the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has refused to rule out. Questioned on the option of a Saudi flight path for Israeli bombers, Aharaon Zeevi Farkash, who headed military intelligence until 2006 and has been involved in war games simulating a strike on Iran, said: “I know that Saudi Arabia is even more afraid than Israel of an Iranian nuclear capacity.”
In 2007 Israel was reported to have used Turkish air space to attack a suspected nuclear reactor being built by Iran’s main regional ally, Syria. Although Turkey publicly protested against the “violation” of its air space, it is thought to have turned a blind eye in what many saw as a dry run for a strike on Iran’s far more substantial — and better-defended — nuclear sites.
Israeli intelligence experts say that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are at least as worried as themselves and the West about an Iranian nuclear arsenal.Israel has sent missile-class warships and at least one submarine capable of launching a nuclear warhead through the Suez Canal for deployment in the Red Sea within the past year, as both a warning to Iran and in anticipation of a possible strike. Israeli newspapers reported last year that high-ranking officials, including the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have met their Saudi Arabian counterparts to discuss the Iranian issue. It was also reported that Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, met Saudi intelligence officials last year to gain assurances that Riyadh would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets violating Saudi airspace during the bombing run. Both governments have denied the reports.