Ya'alon: Russia's S-300 deal with Iran is 'direct result of Lausanne agreement'
"We continue to warn about the bad agreement that is developing with Iran," defense minister says.
By YAAKOV LAPPINS-300 anti-aircraft missile system at a parade in Moscow(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/WWW.KREMLIN.RU)
Russia's decision to lift a ban on the sale of the advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran is a "direct result of the framework agreement reached in Lausanne," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Tuesday, referring to the recent nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Tehran.Ya'alon said that a storm is raging around Israel, and that Iran is "continuing to arm itself, and arm others." Moscow's S-300 deal with Iran is "something we have been warning about even before the details [of the agreement] were concluded. It was clear, even then, that sanctions will be lifted, and that of course this will influence and strengthen the Iranian economy."Meanwhile, Ya'alon said, Iran continues to arm elements around Israel, particularly Hezbollah in the North, while supporting combat in Syria, and the Houthi-Shi'ite takeover of Yemen."This issue was not discussed at all, and this is one of the biggest holes in the agreement. It is outside of the framework agreement, and this is certainly very disturbing. I hope that there will be time in the coming months to fix this," said the defense minister.Iran continues to activate terrorism against pro-Western Arab regimes, support elements in Iraq, work against Israel, and transfer weapons to Syria, he added. It has already sent tens of millions of dollars to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza after last summer's conflict to help them arm themselves, due to their inability to smuggle rockets or other weapons into Gaza, the defense minister continued."We continue to warn about the bad agreement that is developing with Iran, which does not include terrorism, missile components, or the military dimension of the Iranian nuclear project. Hence, we are against this bad agreement."