Initial Reports - Russia Freezes S300 sale to Iran!!!

[muman613]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/11/AR2010061105248.html

Russia halts sale of air defense missiles to Iran
By Glenn Kessler and Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 11, 2010; 6:22 PM

Russia has frozen the sale of S-300 air defense missiles to Iran, Russian news agencies reported Friday, in a victory for the Obama administration in the wake of new U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran.

The sanctions ban the sale of eight categories of conventional weapons, including "missiles and missile systems," but a loophole in the language of the resolution suggested that defensive ground-to-air missile systems such as the S-300 were not covered by the ban. On Thursday, the day after the U.N. Security Council vote, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman indicated that the $800 million sale was still on and would not be affected by the sanctions.

But on Friday, the Kremlin contradicted that suggestion. "S-300s fall under these sanctions," a Kremlin official was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying. "Therefore, these type of weapons cannot be supplied to Iran." The statement was amplified by news reports out of France, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met Friday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, that Putin had told Sarkozy that Russia would "freeze the delivery of the S-300 missiles."

U.S. officials have pressed Russia hard for a commitment not to go ahead with the sale. "For the first time, the resolution calls for states to exercise vigilance and restraint in the sale or transfer of all other arms and related materiel," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington. "We appreciate Russia's restraint in the transfer of the S-300 missile system to Iran."

The Russian shift came on the same day that that the Kremlin and the White House announced that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with President Obama in Washington on June 24.

In a further snubbing of Iran, Medvedev, attending the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, made clear that any country under U.N. sanctions will not be permitted to join the mutual-security organization, which includes Russia, China and the four ex-Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Iran currently has observer status and has sought full membership.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday brushed off the new U.N. resolution against his country as "worthless paper" and appeared to blame the United States for "bullying" his ally China into voting for it.

Visiting Shanghai just two days after China succumbed to international pressure and supported a fourth round of sanctions, Ahmadinejad, at a news conference, aimed most of his wrath at the Obama administration and Israel, but seemed conciliatory toward Beijing.

"We have very good relations with China, and we have no reason to weaken our relations with China," Ahmadinejad said after touring the Iranian and Chinese pavilions at the Shanghai World Expo. "I said the problem is the United States."

He said the Obama administration had subjected other countries on the Security Council to "pressure and intimidation" and "bullying."

Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit only Shanghai and had no meetings planned with senior Chinese officials. Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Uzbekistan for the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

[Ben m]

this is great.

[TruthSpreader]

 

Nobody should sell weapons to any Muslim nation.

[arksis]

Yes, this is great, but won't the bass turd just get them from China instead? 

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I don't believe a thing Russia says any more than anything a Muzzie says. Russians do taqqiyah just as much as Muslims.

[MassuhDGoodName]

Russia is such a cynical country when it comes to foreign policy.

When it comes to "two-faced" international diplomacy and "double-dealing", there's no better teacher than Russia, with the possible exception of France.

The arms contract Putin signed with Iran probably has a clause saying that should for any reason Iran come under international sanctions, then Russia can cancel the sale but Iran still has to pay Russia the full price agreed upon plus penalties for non-delivery.

Meanwhile, Putin probably tripled Russia's profits by selling Israel the codes to hack into Iran's missile defenses and override the controls.

 

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

Russia should have been ground into dust after the cold war.  Now, like how we opened trade up with China, we are paying the dire consequences.

I am no expert, but it seems at times that Israel would be better off buying Russian weapons than US weapons.  I have heard it said that, "Israel knows more about Russian technology than Russians do".  From what I have read Israel repairs India's Russian weapon systems when they need maintenance.  I realize that US weapons are usually better than Russian, however if Israel is capable of improving Russian weapons would it not make sense for Israel to buy from Russia for the time being since Obama is not allowing deals with Israel for weapons to follow as agreed upon? -- Ultimately I am for Israel to make 100% of her own weapons and to become a major arms dealer in the world; if a "certain ally" has a problem with this, make it worth Israel's time to behave otherwise, no?