Russian media: Defense official confirms S-300 sale to Iran
Mar. 18, 2009
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST
Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday that a top defense official confirmed Russia had indeed signed a contract to sell S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran, but that none of the weapons had been delivered.
Russian officials have consistently denied claims that it already provided some of the powerful missiles to Iran, and had not clarified whether a contract existed. The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies, in addition to the independent Interfax, quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying Wednesday the contract had been signed two years ago.
Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.
Supplying the S-300s to Iran would markedly change the military balance in the Middle East.
Israel has consistently stated it would do everything possible to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, including a military strike on various nuclear facilities in the country. However, the S-300 anti-aircraft system would make an air strike significantly more difficult.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1237114860330&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
Comment: I will be curious how Obama responds to this news. Also we should pay attention to Netanyahu's response. So much for believing anything the russians say any more-they previously "promised" that they were not going forward with this sale.
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