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Lifting the Embargo on Arms Sales to Iran

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Col. (ret.) Dr. Ephraim Kam - The embargo imposed by the UN Security Council on the sale of weapons to Iran will expire on October 18, 2020. Its shopping list will probably include Russian Sukhoi S-30 aircraft and S-400 advanced air defense systems. Yet Russia is no longer prepared as it once was to supply its clients with arms on long-term credit. Over the last two decades, Iran has had to abandon or postpone many of its purchasing plans because it was unable to pay for new systems. Today Iran's economic position is even worse, due to U.S. sanctions, its investments in consolidating its intervention in Syria, and the severe damage caused to its economy by the coronavirus pandemic. Iran also recognizes that the U.S. will exert financial pressure to prevent the supply of strategic arms to Iran, including threats of imposing sanctions on countries and companies that do so. This pressure could deter Russia, China and European countries from supplying problematic weapons to Iran. The writer, who served in the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence, is Deputy Director of INSS.
2020-10-12 00:00:00
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