Russia Freezes Sale Of S-300 To Iran

Jerusalem Post ^ | 18 Feb 2009 | JPost Staff

[edpc]

Russia has frozen the sale of the state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar was reportedly informed of the decision by his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov on his visit to Moscow on Wednesday.

Russia said the delivery of the systems would be delayed at least until the upcoming meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. Kommersant cited Russia's wish to prevent hindering dialogue with the new US administration.

[Marine_Uncle]

Russia is going downhill fast. They need the US to bail them out over the long haul. The rug heads will get little aid from the Russians. Besides they need to make it look like they are ready to be friendly again with the USA. Oil is not going up for anytime soon.

[SunkenCiv]

Russia said the delivery of the systems would be delayed at least until the upcoming meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. Kommersant cited Russia's wish to prevent hindering dialogue with the new US administration.

Obama will insist on selling US missiles to Iran. ;') Winky face, but I'm not too sure I'm not right. Thanks Ernest.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Unilateral Disarmament will only mean a replay of the movie “Bambi vs. Godzilla”.

[agrace]

EXCELLENT point.

And I can’t wait to see his name preceded by the title “Prime Minister” again.

[knighthawk]

Frozen till Iran has to money again to afford them

[Tommyjo]

No Syria has no S-300s.

http://geimint.blogspot.com/search/label/Syria

The Israel’s took the path of least resistance to an undefended target in the Syrian desert. They skirted and used Turkish airspace to get to that target. They Syrians simply took the gamble and lost by making the target as sterile as possible.

[Roccus]

I wasn't sure about exactly what system the Syrians had. Just knew it was Russian. What your article failed to mention though, (and what was reported at the time), was that the Syrian air defenses "went blind" before the attack. Whether this indicates US assistance or that the Israelis have the means to neutralize the Russian made Syrian defenses is unclear.

[Roccus]

For some reason I can’t find any articles about the raid on FR’s “search.” I did find this through Google

“...More interesting is the newspaper’s claim that “Russian experts are studying why the two state-of-the-art Russian-built radar systems in Syria did not detect the Israeli jets entering Syrian territory,” it said. “Iran reportedly has asked the same question, since it is buying the same systems and might have paid for the Syrian acquisitions.”

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003771.html

That quote is a bit down in the linked article. It seems (from the article) that the Israelis only used Turkish air space to leave.

[Tommyjo]

Again a very dodgy source. The Russians haven’t supplied any state of the art radar systems. They Syrians were still using their aged Soviet systems. They can’t cover the entire country. The Israeli’s for years now have been using Turkish weapons ranges for training. Strike packages regularly head up the coastline to utilise these ranges. All the Israeli’s had to do was sweep in at low-level using the pan handle of Turkish airspace to get into the Syrian desert.

[Tommyjo]

Again you are relying on invented sources. The Syrian systems protect the main areas. The north of the country has always been the weak point and that is exactly where Israel chose to sneak in. The Israeli’s did exactly the same thing to the Egyptians in 1967.

Years of strike package training over the Med lulling the Egyptian defenses into a false sense of security. Israel has been using Turkish weapons ranges for years now and this involves strike packages out in the Med off Syria. The Syrians routinely track them as they pass north. All it takes is a small group to break off and down to low level and make a run through the Turkish pan handle. They skirt the northern weaker defences and out into the Syrian Desert. The Syrians took the gamble on not protecting the site and lost.

[Roccus]

I’m not trying to argue with you on this. You obviously know more about this than I. I only know what I’ve read through FR and as I said earlier, for some reason I can’t find the old threads on this. IIRC, most of those articles came from BBC or from Jerusalem Times (Post?) and, if memory serves me, were pretty much in accord with the one I linked. I am here at FR to learn.