Russia cancels controversial sale of S 300 to Iran
Date
3/7/2016 12:20:24 PM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida reported last Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has cancelled the deployment of S-300 air defense systems to Iran after having been warned by Israel that Tehran has provided advanced weaponry to its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.
One senior official explained that the real intention of the Russian president is to punish Tehran for not complying with a prior agreement in which Iran had pledged not to deliver any Russian-made advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.
The decision came after Israel repeatedly warned Russia that Hezbollah had received SA-22 surface-to-air missiles also known as Pantsir-S1. Israeli intelligence reports showed pictures of the SA-22s in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his speech before the UN General Assembly in September 2015 claimed that Hezbollah successfully smuggled some SA-22s and Yakhont missiles into Lebanon.
The Israeli intelligence has been confirmed by the Russian Air Force. Russian pilots flying over Lebanon and Syria as well as Russian anti-missile radars have detected SA-22 systems in certain areas of Lebanon in which Shiite control is predominant.
Russia recently finished supplying 24 SA-22 systems to Iraq and made contracts with several countries such as Algeria Jordan Oman Syria and the United Arab Emirates for additional deliveries of the system.
A SA-22 operated by the Syrian Armed Forces was reported to have shot down a Turkish RF-4E during a reconnaissance mission near Latakia on 22 June 2012.
Russia had previously cancelled the delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Iran amidst the host of UN sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
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