Russia has reportedly halted its promised sale of advanced S-300 missile defense systems to Iran after it was revealed that Tehran had violated an agreement with Moscow not to pass on other advanced Russian-made weaponry to the Hezbollah militia.
This is according to a source in the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Jarida which was cited by The Jerusalem Post. The paper claims that the Kremlin made this decision after Russian President Vladimir Putin was given intelligence from Israel which showed that Iran had supplied Hezbollah with Russian-made SA-22 surface-to-air missile systems.
Additionally it was said that Russia confirmed this itself by flying surveillance flights over Lebanon and Syria and using their own anti-missile radars to detect the systems which have been moved to Lebanon.
Russia had previously cancelled its delivery of S-300's to Iran in 2010 after being pressured by the western powers. However after the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 powers Russia said it would deliver the missiles.
Israel has flown several airstrikes against such hardware in war-torn Syria out of fears it would be passed onto or acquired by Hezbollah. Since Russia intervened in Syria in late 2015 both Israel and Russia established a communications mechanism to avoid any accidents or potential clashes.
Also the leaders of both countries have been in frequent contact and there have been subsequent Israeli airstrikes into Syria since the Russian intervention without incident.
Israel doesn't want Hezbollah getting its hands on any Russian-made anti-air or anti-ship missiles since such systems could undermine Israel's technological edge over that militia in any future war.
This is according to a source in the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Jarida which was cited by The Jerusalem Post. The paper claims that the Kremlin made this decision after Russian President Vladimir Putin was given intelligence from Israel which showed that Iran had supplied Hezbollah with Russian-made SA-22 surface-to-air missile systems.
Additionally it was said that Russia confirmed this itself by flying surveillance flights over Lebanon and Syria and using their own anti-missile radars to detect the systems which have been moved to Lebanon.
Russia had previously cancelled its delivery of S-300's to Iran in 2010 after being pressured by the western powers. However after the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 powers Russia said it would deliver the missiles.
Israel has flown several airstrikes against such hardware in war-torn Syria out of fears it would be passed onto or acquired by Hezbollah. Since Russia intervened in Syria in late 2015 both Israel and Russia established a communications mechanism to avoid any accidents or potential clashes.
Also the leaders of both countries have been in frequent contact and there have been subsequent Israeli airstrikes into Syria since the Russian intervention without incident.
Israel doesn't want Hezbollah getting its hands on any Russian-made anti-air or anti-ship missiles since such systems could undermine Israel's technological edge over that militia in any future war.
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