Posted on 10/10/2008 1:05:25 PM PDT by mojito
Moscow rejects reports that it may arm Iran, saying it has no plan to equip Tehran with the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system.
"We have declared more than once at the very highest political level that we do not intend to supply those types of armaments to countries located in regions that are, to put it mildly, unstable areas," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko on Thursday.
The Russian official added that the Kremlin makes decisions on selling such systems based on "both preserving the balance of power in the given region, and taking into account the need to provide stability and security in the region."
His remarks came after outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lobbied Russia against equipping Iran with the powerful S-300 defense system in his recent two-day visit to Moscow.
Russia has delivered 29 Tor-M1 missile systems to Iran under a $700 million (£386 million) contract signed in 2005, press tv reported.
Reports, however, began to surface as early as 2005 on the possibility of a deal on the delivery to Iran of S-300 defense systems that can complicate any aerial strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"If Tehran obtained the S-300, it would be a game-changer in military thinking for tackling Iran. That could be a catalyst for Israeli air attacks before it is operational," long-time Pentagon advisor Dan Goure said in late August.
"This is a system that scares every Western air force," he continued.
Israeli officials themselves have also commented on the issue, confirming that the system, once acquired by Iran, would complicate a potential attack on the 'numerous, distant, and fortified' nuclear sites in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at english.farsnews.com ...
I guess Syria on the other border with Iraq is not in a volatile region.
Still, I do see this as a step in the right direction.
I can’t believe that Russia is so F’d up that it’s leadership cannot grasp that the West is it’s future, it’s natural home.
We should be allies. Doesn’t Russia ever want to be a part of the civilized world, even fiscally? Good grief.
Russia has learned first hand what radical muslims can do. Perhaps they are getting wiser.
Or maybe their just afraid that "someone" may swoop in on one of the Iranian S-300 installations, grab the whole thing, put it into a couple of C-17's (just to pick an aircraft type at random), and fly away with it.
It happened once, back in the 1970s, with an earlier type of Russian mobile radar system.
I’ll take a wild guess and say maybe the Iranians are not paying their bills on time.
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Israel against all others in the region is balanced?
The IAF IS doing a superb job!
What they fear most is that the IDF will capture a unit and carry it off for exploitation. They have a good track record for doing just that and the US has benefited from it as well.
Yes, it would be good news if true.
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