Russia lifts ban on supplying S 300 missiles to Iran
Date
8/7/2015 12:10:20 PM
(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Moscow Russia -
President Vladimir Putin on Monday lifted a ban on supplying Iran with sophisticated S-300 air defence missile systems after Tehran's landmark framework deal with the West over its nuclear programme.
A decree signed by Putin removed a ban on "the shipment from Russia to Iran" of the S-300 missiles and sparked fierce condemnation from Israel of Iran's perceived newfound "legitimacy" on the international stage.
The decision to pull the delivery ban comes before any sanctions have been lifted on Iran with difficult technical negotiations still ahead following the breakthrough April 2 deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear drive.
Moscow blocked deliveries of the surface-to-air missiles to Tehran in 2010 after the United Nations slapped sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme barring hi-tech weapons sales.
Iran then filed a $4-billion suit at an arbitration court in Geneva for the cancellation of the $800 million order by Russia which has long been Iran's principal foreign arms supplier.
The framework deal agreed in Lausanne in April marked a crucial advance in a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West which disputes Tehran's denial that it is seeking to build a nuclear bomb.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted the missile deliveries were not covered by the earlier UN sanctions and that the progress made in Switzerland meant there was no longer any need for Russia to maintain the ban on the missile deliveries.
"We are convinced that at this stage the necessity for a separate and voluntary embargo by Russia has disappeared" Lavrov said in a statement.
Israel -- which strongly opposed the initial missile deal -- lashed out at Russia's decision saying it was proof that the Iranians were using the nuclear deal to arm themselves.
"This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran is receiving from the nuclear deal that is being prepared and proof that the Iranian economic growth which follows the lifting of sanctions will be exploited for arming itself and not for the welfare of the Iranian people" Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement.
But Lavrov insisted that the missile system was "exclusively defensive" and said it did not pose a threat to Iran's foes.
The system "does not have attack capabilities and does not put any state in the region in danger including Israel" he said.