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Missile Defenses: The Other Ticking Clock in Iran

[Foreign Policy] Christian Caryl - In addition to uranium enrichment, there's another ticking clock the Israelis are worried about that hasn't been in the headlines quite so much. For years, Tehran has been working hard to acquire Russian S-300 antiaircraft missiles, essentially the Russian equivalent of the American Patriot. Although never tested under combat conditions, military experts have a high opinion of its capabilities - especially more recent variants like the PMU-2 Favorit (the SA-20B), which can track 100 targets while engaging up to 12, and hit targets 120 miles away. Russia first offered the Iranians the S-300 in 2005, but then pulled back due to diplomatic controversies surrounding Iran's nuclear programs. In 2007, Tehran signed a contract to buy several S-300 batteries. In April 2009, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari visited Moscow to push things along and declared, "There are no problems with this contract." Yet so far none of the systems have been delivered to the Iranians.
2009-10-06 08:00:00
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