Russia Confirms Sale of Missiles to Iran

By HENRY MEYER

Associated Press Writer

 

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia has struck a deal to sell short-range, surface-to-air missiles to Iran, the defense minister said Monday, confirming reports that have raised concern in the United States and Israel.

 

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov didn't give details. But Russian media have said that Moscow agreed in November to sell $1 billion worth of weapons to Iran, including up to 30 Tor-M1 missile systems over the next two years.

 

"A contract for the delivery of air defense Tor missiles to Iran has indeed been signed," Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

 

"This unequivocally will not change the balance of forces in the region," Ivanov added. Tor M1 missiles are short-range, surface-to-air missiles already used by several other armed forces, including China.

 

The reports last week prompted expressions of concern from the U.S administration and Israel, which considers Iran to be its biggest threat. Israeli concerns recently were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be "wiped off the map."

 

Top politicians in Israel have ratcheted up the tough talk against Iran, led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called for a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear installations. Such a strike would be similar to a 1981 attack, ordered by then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin, that destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor.

 

"I will continue the tradition established by Menachem Begin, who did not allow Iraq to develop such a nuclear threat against Israel, and by a daring and courageous act gave us two decades of tranquility," Netanyahu told the daily newspaper Maariv. "I believe that this is what Israel has to do."

 

Interfax said the Tor-M1 system could identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet.

 

On Saturday, an influential Iranian official played down the deal, telling the official Islamic Republic News Agency that Tehran has been trading arms with many countries and would continue to do so.

 

The Russian Foreign Ministry, without commenting on the reported missile sale, also said Saturday that all Russian weaponry supplied to Iran is purely for defensive purposes.

 

However, a senior Bush administration official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, said last week that any arms sale to Iran is a source of concern. The official would not say whether Russia had advised the United States of any negotiations with Iran.

 

The United States and Russia are supporting efforts by the European Union to persuade Iran to halt development of nuclear weapons in exchange for economic incentives, such as trade opportunities.

 

Russia, which has a long and lucrative relationship with Iran, has offered to try to resolve a key dispute by offering to enrich uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear energy program as a safeguard against Iran using enrichment for weapons purposes.

Philadelphia Inquirer

December 16, 2005

 

EU Decries Russia-Iran Missile Deal

 

Leaders said Moscow's sale sent a bad signal. A U.S. official called the arms deal a surprise.

 

By George Jahn, Associated Press

 

VIENNA, Austria - The European Union has formally protested to Russia about Moscow's sale of sophisticated missiles to Iran, European and U.S. officials said yesterday.

 

In a note to Russia's Foreign Ministry, the EU said the sale sent a wrong signal at a time when Iran is increasingly isolated because of harsh anti-Jewish rhetoric from its president, suspicions that it is aiding extremist groups, and its poor human-rights record, the officials said.

 

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the dispute with journalists, suggested that the EU's formal protest was significant because it came as the normally cautious bloc was wooing Russia as a strategic and economic partner.

 

The complaint underlined European dismay with the timing of the arms agreement because the sale cast doubt on where Russia stands as the West pushes to get Iran to give up uranium enrichment.

 

Although enrichment can produce material to make nuclear bombs, Iran insists its only aim is to make its own fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity. The United States has said Iran's real goal is to obtain atomic weapons.

 

A U.S. official said both Washington and the EU were caught by surprise by the arms deal, which was initially revealed by Russian news media early this month. The official said the deal would suggest to the Iranians that there was no common will to confront them on nuclear and other issues.

 

Before Russia's agreement to sell Tor-M1 air-defense missiles was made public, hopes were high that Iran would accept an EU proposal that would have Russia supply enriched uranium for Iranian reactors.

 

Support from Russia is seen as key for the international effort to force a compromise on Iran.

 

A new round of talks on the Iranian nuclear program is set for Wednesday, most likely in Vienna or Geneva. Representatives of Iran and diplomats from Britain, France and Germany are expected to participate.