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Washington plays down concerns on S-300 delivery to Iran

22 April 2015 [14:54] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Russia's decision to supply Iran with surface-to-air S-300 missiles still continue to raise concerns in some governments, as fear persists it could increase the Islamic Republic’s military might and negatively affect nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

The United States and Israel have strongly criticized Russia over its decision to lift a ban on the delivery of S-300 missile system to Iran. Russia, however, stated that the missiles had only defensive capabilities and therefore "pose no threat" to other countries.

Some experts have predicted that this will increase an arms race in the Middle East region. On the other hand, others believe that it will allow a certain balance of power to be restored in the region.

Although U.S. officials previously voiced serious concern over this issue, President Barack Obama in one of his recent interviews has sought to play down concerns over Russia's decision to supply Iran with S-300 missiles, Big News Network reported.

Obama said in an MSNBC interview on April 21 that the United States continues to object to the sale, but noted that "Even if they've got some air defense systems, if we had to, we could penetrate them."

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered in mid-April to lift the self-imposed ban on the delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran that was cancelled by then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, following UN sanctions on Tehran due to its disputed nuclear program.

The United States, along with five other world powers are in talks with Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear energy program. Though the sides have reached a framework accord on this issue, the negotiations are underway to finalize nuclear dispute with a comprehensive final deal.

The United States has not ruled out possible military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons should diplomacy fail.

Although Obama reiterated that the military option is still on the table, should the talks with Iran fail, he is determined to continue nuclear negotiations to put an end to Iran’s nuclear dispute.

Obama said in his interview with MSNBC that he has no intention to solve the problems in the region "by an even greater war."

He noted that Washington wants to achieve an agreement on Iran "nuclear dossier", which will ensure the security of U.S. allies - Israel and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/140056.html

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