S300 missiles show new power play by Russia

Source :

TEHRAN, Jun. 2 (MNA) –Iran’s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Chairman has assessed S-300 system delivery to Syria as a power play by Russia.

About the delivery of the Russian S-300 missile system to Syria, Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that “delivery of S-300 missile systems by Russia to Syria actually is a new phase of Russian power play in the Middle East and a message to the US and its allies for their seditious games they play in the region.”

“Projecting its power, Russia will not allow events in North Africa to be repeated, and won’t let Western involvement in the country so they will create chaos, because Syria is the red line and is very sensitive and important [to Russia],” he asserted.

He also added: “presence of powerful and influential countries such as Russia will result in the deterrence of war in the region and will prevent the Zionist regime and its allies from possible attacks in Syria. In fact, the delivery of S-300 missiles to Syria will create the balance of power in the region.”

In response to the question whether the delivery of S-300 missile system would be the reason for announcing the no-fly zone in Syria, Boroujerdi said: “the delivery of S-300 missiles systems will not be the reason to impose no-fly zone in the area, but this will increase the strength of Syria, beside, without Russia and China’s vote the Security Council cannot decide on this issue.”

Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Chairman emphasized: “the S-300 missile system will give more power to Syrian Government, so they can stand-up to attacks and seditious games the West and the apartheid regime play [in Syria].”

SMH/SH/EA MNA END

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US Warns Russia of Sending S-300 Missiles to Syria: Puts Israel at Risk

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb/

US Secretary of State John Kerry strongly condemned Russia over its decision to sell an advanced missile system to Damascus, considering it puts Israel at risk.

Speaking from Washington, Kerry also warned that the planned delivery of S-300 air defense missiles to Damascus “was not helpful” as Russia and the US prepare for Geneva 2, to try to end the Syrian conflict.

Kerry said the delivery would have a “profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region, and it does put Israel at risk”.

It is “not helpful to have the S-300 transferred to the region while you are trying to organize this peace and create peace," he added, questioning whether Russia was “fully committed to ending Syria's conflict”.

Arms race fears after Syria weapons moves

Source : Shanghai Daily

FEARS of a foreign-fed arms race in Syria grew yesterday as European Union nations decided they could give weapons to the outgunned rebels and Russia disclosed it has a contract to sell the Syrian government anti-aircraft missiles.

Each development could significantly raise the firepower in a two-year civil war which has already killed more than 70,000 people.

It also comes as the US and Russia are preparing for a major peace conference in Geneva that diplomats have called the best chance yet to end the bloodshed in the Middle East country.

The EU move late on Monday lifting an arms embargo on Syria sparked broad political fallout within hours.

Russia criticized the decision and acknowledged its anti-aircraft missile sale.

In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the EU's decision "a manifestation of double standards" and accused the European Union of "throwing fuel on the fire" by letting its arms embargo on Syrian expire, saying it would hurt prospects for the Geneva talks, which are expected to take place next month.

Ryabkov confirmed that Russia had signed a contract with Assad's government to provide S-300 air defense missiles, which he said were important to prevent foreign intervention in the country. Ryabkov would not say whether any of the missiles had been shipped to Syria.

"We think this delivery is a stabilizing factor and that such steps in many ways restrain some hotheads ... from exploring scenarios in which this conflict could be given an international character with participation of outside forces, to whom this idea is not foreign," he told reporters.

An official in Britain's Foreign Office said: "We have stated that we have made no decision to supply arms to Syria. At the same time, Russia has acknowledged publicly that it is providing weapons to the Assad regime. Of course we disapprove strongly of continued arms sales to the regime."

Britain and France, which opposed renewing the arms embargo, have made it clear that they reserve the right to send arms immediately, despite an agreement by European countries to put off potential deliveries until August 1.

In Damascus, a Syrian lawmaker criticized the EU move, saying efforts to arm the rebels would discourage the opposition from seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

In contrast, Louay Safi, a senior figure in the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, called the EU move a "positive step."

The US and other Western powers fear that any European weapons could fall into the hands of extremists.

"We have no guarantees about the end user," Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said. "So it is perfectly possible to see arms disappear in the hands of extremists and jihadists. And, second, it is a real proliferation. There are enough arms in the field, not only in Syria but also in the neighboring countries."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "Germany will not deliver any weapons to the Syria conflict and we note that no other European country has expressed the intention to do so in the near future.

Israeli PM to Visit Russia Over Weapons Supply to Syria

Source : RIA Novosti

AVIV, May 11 (RIA Novosti) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Russia to discuss the supplying of Russian weapons to Syria, a high-ranking source in Jerusalem told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

“Netanyahu plans to visit Russia. The main theme [of discussions] will be the export of weapons to Syria,” the source said on condition of anonymity, since the Israeli authorities have not yet officially announced the visit.

Netanyahu plans to come to Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the date is being agreed upon.

A source in diplomatic circles told RIA Novosti that the Israeli prime minister expects to travel to Sochi at the beginning of next week. “The visit is currently at the active planning stage,” the source said.

The two leaders discussed the Syrian crisis by telephone on May 6, after reports emerged that Israel had carried out several air strikes on Syrian territory in the previous days. Reuters reported that the strikes targeted weapons designated for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, while the Syrian state news agency SANA said that a research center near the capital Damascus had been attacked.

Media reports had previously stated that Israel wants Russia to agree not to supply Syria with S-300 missile batteries.

Russia’s supply of weapons to Syria was also a topic of discussion at Friday’s talks in Sochi between Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron, where the Russian side repeated its position that it is simply honoring existing contracts, a source from the Russian delegation said.

“It’s quite clear: There is no embargo on deliveries, and we are fulfilling agreements signed previously, i.e. we are carrying out the obligations we took upon ourselves.”

The source added that all the weapons Russia is currently delivering to Syria were of an “exclusively defensive nature.”

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow had no plans to supply Syria with weapons beyond the current contracts that Moscow is honoring. The announcement came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had informed the United States about the suspected sale of Russian S- 300 missile batteries to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to the information the Israelis provided, Syria has been making payments on a 2010 agreement with Moscow to buy six launchers and 144 operational missiles for $900 million.

Commenting on the media reports, US Secretary of State John Kerry said “the missiles are potentially destabilizing with respect to the state of Israel.”

The sale of Russian weapons to Assad’s regime has been a source of bilateral tension between Moscow and Washington, with US officials accusing Russia of arming a regime the United States says is killing its own citizens in Syria’s raging civil war.

Russia, however, has insisted that the deliveries are legal under international law and that it is not supplying Syria, the largest importer of Russian arms in the Middle East, with offensive weapons that can be used to kill civilians.

About 70,000 people have died in Syria since the beginning of the uprising against Assad in March 2011, according to UN figures. Russia, along with China, has faced widespread condemnation over its refusal to approve UN sanctions against Assad’s regime

Syria to receive advanced Russian air defense: report

Source : Al Akhbar English

Syria has already began payments for a $900 million purchase of an advanced air defense system from Russia and an initial delivery was due within three months, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday citing US officials.

Israel has asked Russia not to sell Syria the S-300, which could help President Bashar al-Assad fend off foreign military intervention, Israeli officials said on Thursday.

"We have raised objections to this (sale) with the Russians, and the Americans have too," an Israeli official told Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow or Damascus.

The S-300 is designed to shoot down planes and missiles at 200 kilometer ranges. It would enhance Syria's current Russian-supplied defenses, which did not deter Israel from launching devastating air strikes around Damascus last weekend.

In 2010, Russia backed out of a tentative S-300 sale to Iran that had been in the works for years. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cited UN sanctions imposed that year over Iran's defiance of international demands to curb its nuclear program.

Israel and the United States, which threaten military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities if diplomatic alternatives fail, had lobbied Moscow to drop the deal with Tehran.

Israel reportedly attacked on Syrian soil twice over the weekend, in a move that prompted demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies and UN headquarters across the region.

On Saturday, Israel carried out an air strike into Syria, supposedly targeting a shipment of missiles bound for Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

The target of Friday's raid was not a Syrian chemical weapons facility, a regional security source earlier told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

A US official, who also declined to be identified, had told Reuters on Friday that the target was apparently a building.

The attack took place after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approved it in a secret meeting on Thursday night, the security source said.

On Sunday, Israel struck a military facility overnight outside Damascus.

The official SANA news agency said Israel was responsible for the attack on the Jamraya military research center in the Eastern Ghouta region.

The attacks came as Israeli fighter jets flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut repeatedly the week prior.

(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)