| http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=125854  Monday, February 22, 2010 FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU WorldNetDaily Russia to deliver missile defense to Iran Foreign minister confirms deal despite reports of cancellation, delay Posted: February 22, 2010 12:51 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily
Russia intends to fulfill a contract to supply its S-300 advanced air-defense missiles to Iran, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying over the weekend. "There is a contract to supply these systems to Iran, and we will fulfill it," Ryabkov told Interfax in an interview. "Delays (with deliveries) are linked to technical problems with adjusting these systems," he added. Ryabkov also cautioned against politicizing Russia's arms exports to Iran. "It is absolutely incorrect to put the emphasis on the issue of S-300 supplies ... and to turn it into a major problem, to say nothing of linking it to the discussion on restoring trust in the purely peaceful character of Iran's nuclear program," Ryabkov said. The Egyptian official said Russia also intends to see the system delivered to Syria, from which it can also be transferred to the Hezbollah militia operating in Lebanon. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow, where he reportedly asked the Russians to cancel a contract with Iran to deliver and install the S-300 system. Israeli newspapers quoted sources in Netanyahu's entourage stating Russia agreed to cancel the sale. The S-300PMU1 is a mobile system designed to shoot down aircraft and cruise missiles. Analysts say the S-300 system would make any Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities more difficult. Just after Netanyahu's visit, the Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian official as saying the delivery to Iran of the S-300 had been delayed for technical reasons. "The delay is due to technical problems. The delivery will be carried out when they are resolved," said Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. However, the Egyptian official speaking to WND said Russia still intends to deliver the system to Iran within the next month. The official said there are also plans to see the system deployed in Syria, where Russia maintains a large naval fleet unseen since the Cold War days. The official said Syria intends to transfer the S-300 to Hezbollah in Lebanon. An Israeli security official said Israel is monitoring the situation. Russia has not announced the specific terms of its agreement with Iran, but Interfax reported the deal calls for Moscow to sell Tehran five batteries of S-300PMU1 missiles for around $800 million. Iran has expressed frustration over the continued delay in the delivery of the S-300 system. Last week a top Iranian military commander claimed his country would build its own air-defense missiles that would be even better than the S-300. ================== http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=125778 Monday, February 22, 2010 WorldNetDaily Exclusive Iran steps up training of Hamas retaliation force Tehran fears Israeli raid against nuke sites this year Posted: February 21, 2010 8:53 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Iran has increased exponentially its training of Hamas gunmen both in the Gaza Strip and abroad, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. The official said Iran believes there will be a confrontation with Israel this year over Tehran's nuclear facilities and has thus stepped up training of Hamas, whose gunmen will be instrumental in carrying out retaliatory attacks against the Jewish state during any future war. The official said the training is taking place both in Gaza, where Iran has militants stationed, and in other countries, particularly in Lebanon and Iran itself. He said an explosion in Lebanon last month that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group blamed on Israel actually was part of a work accident during training exercises between Hezbollah and Hamas. Two Hamas members were killed in that attack, which Hamas claimed was targeting Hamas's representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan. Last month, WND published early reports that, according to a senior Egyptian intelligence official, Iranian Revolutionary Guard units were actively working to train Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip. The official also said Egypt is concerned that neighboring Gaza could become a major center of al-Qaida activity in the region. The Egyptian official said those factors were central in his country's decision to build a steel wall under the Egypt-Gaza border as part of efforts to isolate Hamas and stem weapons smuggling into Gaza. The official also said Egypt has information that Hamas and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group for the first time formed a joint operations room from which the two groups exchange knowledge, coordinate efforts and work on obtaining weapons. The Egyptian intelligence official said recent information as well as interrogations of arrested suspects in Egypt indicate Iranian-backed groups are working with al-Qaida in the Gaza Strip even though the two groups have different points of view and conflicting religious ideology. The official pointed to similar cooperation in Yemen, where he said Iranian agents and al-Qaida have been working against the Yemeni government. Reports that Iranian agents have been operating in Gaza are not new. In 2007, WND first reported security forces associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party captured seven Iranian military trainers – including a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – at a purported Hamas training facility in the Gaza Strip. During Israel's military incursion in Gaza last year, Israeli newspapers reported an "Iranian Unit" of Hamas – members of the group's military wing trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – had been destroyed |
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
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