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Netanyahu To Putin: S-300 Missile Delivery Will Increase Iran’s Aggression
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to convey his dismay over Russia’s decision to sell the advanced S-300 missile defense system to Iran.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement that said he “expressed Israel’s dismay at the decision and told President Putin that this step will only increase Iran’s aggression in the region and will destabilize security in the Middle East.”
“Vladimir Putin explained the rationale for the decision in the current context and highlighted the fact that due to their tactical and technical characteristics, S-300 have a purely defensive significance and pose no threat to Israel,” the Kremlin responded in a statement.
Israeli military officials consider the Russian arming of Iran an additional obstacle before any potential military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. One official told Israel army radio that the Russian decision is a result of the weakness the U.S. administration demonstrates in the talks with Iran and its approach to the multiple problems in the Middle East.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the Russian decision was a direct result of the bad deal between Iran and the six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program.
“Instead of demanding Iran put an end to the terrorism it instigates in the Middle East and around the world, it is being allowed to attain advanced arms that will only spur its aggressions,” Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in response to the Russian move.
Interfax News Agency reported today that Russia’s Defense Ministry will be ready to swiftly deliver the S-300 if it gets the green light to do so,
Russia has insisted that its decision in 2010 to freeze the S-300 delivery was based on the sanctions the United Nations Security Council imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
Israeli commentators pointed out today that sanctions are still in place and that delivery of the missiles at this point would be a violation of UNSC resolution 1929.
Others think Russia is trying to daunt Israel with the announcement of the delivery, as a way of keeping as much of the Middle East as possible on a Russian string. In light of where things stand today, they suspect what Putin is doing is redeveloping a bargaining chip to use with Israel. Russia is running around carrot-and-sticking everybody in the region that still has a functioning central government, they say.
Some suspect that the announcement of the delivery at this moment suggests a coordinated move by the U.S. and Russia to block an Israeli attack on Iran.
The official Iranian News Agency IRNA reported today:
“Supplies of the Russian S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran may begin any moment in line with the relevant decree signed by the Russian president earlier in the day,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Petrov then said:
“The decree stipulates… no delays,” adding that the second provision of the decree states “it comes into force on the day it was signed.”
The delivery of the missiles will certainly hamper Israel’s ability to carry out airstrikes and missile strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but it will take a long time before the system will be operable in Iran. So in the short-run, Israel will still be able to launch a military strike against Iran.
What has become clear, however, is that the Russian move says something important about the ability to restore the sanction regime once Iran would violate an agreement about its nuclear program with the six world powers.
Russia is willing to violate the sanctions for economic reasons. As Israeli analyst Ron Ben-Yishai pointed out today: ”the Russians were quick to establish ties with Iran before the sanctions were lifted so that Iran would pass on a significant amount of its oil production to Russian in exchange for weapons and Russian wheat. The Russian aim is likely to store the Iranian oil in Russia so that it will not reach the world market and by doing so prevent the further reduction of oil prices that would be fatal for Russia – all while promoting Russian weapons and agriculture industries.”
If this is the case, there is no chance that Russia (and China as well) will back a return to the sanction regime once Iran violates the deal.
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Informing And Equipping Americans Who Love Freedom
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/netanyahu-putin-s-300-missile-delivery-will-increase-irans-aggression/
