The Daily Telegraph reports that US intelligence officials are worried Russia may respond to the recent US-Poland missile agreement by arming Iran with an advanced missile defense system of its own.The S-300 anti-aircraft system can track 100 targets simultaneously and fire on aircraft 75 miles away. US and Israeli officials fear that such a system would be a "game changer" making any conceived attack on Iran much more dangerous and difficult to execute. These same officials feel that Russia may use the threat of providing Iran such a system "to create a foreign policy showdown that would test the mettle of a new US president."
This not only hampers diplomatic efforts with Russia, it undermines any prospect for compromise between Iran and the West over the nuclear issue and Iraq. The the other obvious problem is that the very threat of such a system may provoke an Israeli attack. Pentagon adviser, Dan Goure, suggest "If Tehran obtained the S-300, it . . . could be a catalyst for Israeli air attacks before it's operational."
Iran originally took a moderate approach to the Russian-Georgian conflict, calling for restraint and an end to hostilities. However, yesterday Iran's Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, argued that Georgia was at fault for miscalculating Russia's response. Earlier in the week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested that the conflict was a result of foreign interference in the region.
The Iranian issue has become a linchpin in Russia's political and diplomatic strategy. While Russia had already been a strong backer of Iran's nuclear program, Iran has now become a symbolic cause for Russia's foreign policy in its cosmic showdown with NATO and the US.
[Image: Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei]
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