WASHINGTON – Russia’s decision to lift a ban on the delivery of an air-defense missile system to Iran amid nuclear negotiations drew objections from the United States and sharp criticism from Israel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin repealed the self-imposed 2010 prohibition on exporting the S-300 missile system, adding a new wrinkle to President Barack Obama’s attempts to win domestic support for the agreement on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Secretary of State John Kerry has directly conveyed concerns to his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the White House said Monday.
“I do think it’s safe to say that Russia understands that the United States certainly takes very seriously the safety and security of our allies in the region,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
If ultimately delivered by Russia, the missile system would boost Iran’s defense against any attack on its nuclear program. It also gives Russia a commercial opening to Iran as negotiations to curtail Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon raise the prospect that economic sanctions will be rolled back.
“These systems won’t make Iran invincible, but they will significantly increase the cost of any military operation against it,” said Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow. “It would require committing more forces and inevitably result in losses.”
Israel warned the move would allow Iran “to arm itself with advanced weapons and increase its aggression.”
“This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran receives through the nuclear deal,” Israeli Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a text message. “It is proof that economic growth in Iran would follow the removal of sanctions, which it would exploit to arm itself and not for the welfare of the people of Iran.”
Lavrov said in a statement on the ministry’s website on Monday that the S-300 is a “purely defensive” weapon, and delivering it to Iran won’t “threaten the security of any state in the region, including, of course, Israel.”
Russia can’t ignore the “commercial, reputational aspects” and sees no further reason not to fulfill the contract, given the progress in the negotiations with Iran, so that it can receive payment, Lavrov said.
Iran and Russia signed an $800 million contract for the systems in 2007. Russia halted delivery after the United Nations imposed an arms embargo three years later. Lavrov said the embargo didn’t restrict the delivery of the air-defense system and Russia’s decision to suspend delivery was “entirely voluntary.”
Iran and representatives of Russia, the U.S., China, France, Germany and Britain announced on April 2 that they’d negotiated a political framework to resolve the confrontation over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program so that it’s restricted to civilian development and can’t be used to build a bomb. Iran denies it’s seeking to develop nuclear weapons. A final agreement must be negotiated by June 30.
Kashin said the S-300 system isn’t likely to be operational before 2017, long past the deadlines for Iran to comply with restrictions in a nuclear agreement.
“Even if a contract were signed tomorrow, it would take until the end of next year to produce the first deliveries and another year to train the Iranians to operate them,” he said.
“We are convinced that at this stage the need for this kind of embargo, and the separate voluntary Russian embargo, has completely faded away,” Lavrov said. Given the tense situation in the region, particularly in Yemen, Iran has a vital need for modern air-defense systems, he said.
Russia’s move to end its ban on missile sales comes as Shiite Iran is involved in an escalating confrontation with Saudi Arabia and its mainly Sunni allies over the conflict in Yemen and is challenging a group of world powers on the pace at which sanctions will be lifted under any permanent nuclear deal.
The Saudis, who have led a 10-nation coalition in more than two weeks of airstrikes on Shiite rebels in Yemen, have become increasingly alarmed at Iran’s growing influence in Middle Eastern flash-points, where Iran often finds itself on the same side as Putin’s Russia.
The Russian decision also comes as Obama is trying to head off moves by Congress to give itself authority to accept or reject a final nuclear deal with Iran.
The president is convening separate meetings at the White House Monday with the heads of American Jewish organizations and with Jewish political supporters and dispatching Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to the Capitol to give lawmakers classified briefings on the negotiations.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday is scheduled to consider bipartisan legislation to give Congress a say in approving an accord with Iran.
