Putin: Russia’s S-300 missile systems supplies to Iran ‘pose no threat to Israel’

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russia’s deliveries of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran "absolutely do not pose a threat to Israel" and are means of deterrence considering the situation in the region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. "We believe that under the developments in the region, particularly in Yemen, the supplies of such defensive weapons may be viewed as a deterrence factor," Putin said at his annual question and answer session officially known as The Direct Line with Vladimir Putin. Putin signed a decree on Monday to lift the ban on the supplies of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran. The ban was imposed in 2010. His Monday’s decision to lift embargo came in the wake of progress achieved at the Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland over a week ago paving the way for the international community to gradually lift sanctions from the Islamic Republic. The Russian president said that Russia’s earlier decision to suspend the deliveries of the air defense missile systems to Iran was made over the controversial Iranian nuclear program, however, Tehran "is currently demonstrating high flexibility and determination to reach a compromise." According to Putin, an internationally-brokered agreement on the resolution of the controversial Iranian nuclear program had been almost reached already with only "technical details" remaining to be settled. He said that the recent progress in the resolution of the Iranian nuclear program issue inspired Russia on lifting the ban on the supplies of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran. He said Russia’s decision to lift the ban cannot be viewed as the lift of the sanctions since S-300 air defense missile systems were not part of the UN list of sanctions imposed in regard to Iran. "We have suspended the implementation of the contract in unilateral format," Putin said during his annual Q&A session with the nation. "And now with the progress on the Iranian nuclear track… we see no reasons for keeping this unilateral suspension in force anymore." The Russian president also said that the air defense missile systems were produced in Russia costing it 900 million rubles, however nobody paid for the weapons. "To be honest we heard some hints on their [systems] purchase but eventually nobody bought it. It resulted in financial losses at Russian manufacturing enterprises," he said. The Russian president said Moscow always took into account present-day situations in the regions, where Russia intended to supply weapons. "By the way, we [Russia] are not the largest supplier of weapons in the Middle East," Putin said. "The United States is engaged in by far larger supplies of weapons on greater sums of money in that region." He said that Russia had recently held talks with one of the Arab states on the supplies of S-300 air defense missile systems and Israel stated that the deliveries could have resulted in drastic geopolitical changes in the region. "We held consultations with our buyer and I should point out that our partners in one of the Arab states understood our position," Putin said. "We have cancelled the contract and returned back the prepayment of $400 million." "It is a totally different story with Iran and it does not pose a threat to Israel," the Russian president said. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in its official statement on Tuesday night that the premier expressed his discontent over Putin’s decision to lift the country’s ban on the S-300 deliveries to Iran. "Prime Minister Netanyahu told President Putin that the step would increase Iran’s aggressive behavior in the region and would undermine security in the Middle East," the statement said. The Kremlin’s press service reported later that day that Putin held a telephone conversation with Netanyahu after the statement’s release and reassured the Israeli prime minister that the defense systems at the issue were of no danger for Israel. "He stressed the fact that in line with tactical and technical characteristics, S-300 systems were solely a weapon of defense and would pose no threat to Israel or any other state in the Middle East," the Kremlin press service said in its statement on Tuesday night. Read more