MOSCOW - Russia will not sell sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Iran, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told reporters here Oct. 9.
Asked whether Russia would supply S-300s, capable of tracking up to 100 targets while engaging 12 at a range of 120 kilometers, Nesterenko said Russia would not sell such weapon systems "to countries that are located, mildly speaking, in volatile regions."
Nesterenko was speaking two days after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow to convince him not to sell advanced weapon systems to Iran and Syria.
Should Russia sell S-300s to Iran, this would strongly raise the cost of an Israeli airstrike against Iran's nuclear facilities, an option considered by the Israeli and U.S. military planners.
Olmert told reporters after he emerged from talks with Medvedev that both sides agreed to "upgrade" their military cooperation but would not talk about whether the agreement related to the possible supply of S-300s to Iran.
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