Israel Matzav

Russia still planning to sell S-300 to Iran

Earlier, I read something where Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that he had talked Russia out of selling the S-300 anti-missile system to Iran. He did not. However, Russia is delaying delivery of the S-300 to the monster, ostensibly because of 'technical problems.'

The Interfax news agency on Wednesday cited a top Russian defense official as saying that S-300 air defense missiles will be delivered to Iran once unspecified technical problems are resolved.

Alexander Fomin, deputy head of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, was quoted as saying "the delay is taking place because of technical problems. The delivery will take place when they have been resolved."

The remarks come a day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his delegation met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and two days after Netanyahu met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Netanyahu said it was clear to him after his meeting with Putin that the Russian prime minister was interested in quiet and stability in the region, and does not want that balance to be broken.

“Russia understands the Iranian problem, and that is obvious even more so today,” Netanyahu said.

Asked at a media conference he held with the traveling Israeli press whether he received a clear answer from Medvedev regarding the delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, Netanyahu said, “I trust what I heard from the president of Russia. I trust him because I know that in this issue, Russia is guided by concerns about regional stability.”

...

Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev, meanwhile, clarified that reports that Medvedev had promised Netanyahu that the S-300s would not be delivered to Iran were “journalistic speculation.”

Sure. The Russians are going to vote in favor of meaningful sanctions. What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:18 AM