Russian President Vladimir Putin has suspended the transfer of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran in light of Tehran’s violation of an earlier pledge not to provide sophisticated Russian-made weaponry to the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah, according to a report Saturday in the Kuwaiti daily Al Jarida.
A senior source told the newspaper that the Russian leader elected to punish the Iranian regime after Israel supplied him with clear-cut evidence that Tehran had given its proxy Hezbollah SA-22 surface-to-air missiles.
The intelligence information was corroborated by reports from Russian pilots flying their fighter jets over Lebanon and Syria.
The Russian air force anti-missile radars were able to detect SA-22 systems stashed in regions of Lebanon that are under the control of the Shi’ite militia. |