Israel fears S-300 missiles could go to Iran

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz on Tuesday voiced concern that S-300 missiles which Syria is expected to get from Russia could eventually go to Iran. The minister told Israel Radio that Israel was trying to convince Russia to backpedal on the S-300 missile deal. He said Moscow had in the past declined to sell such missiles to Iran, saying that Israel is surprised at Moscow's position. The Israeli minister claimed that the missile deal, once completed, would spur Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to continue fighting rebels, thus leading to no settlement to the Syrian crisis. He said such missiles could even go to Lebanon's Hezbollah or any other anti-Israel organization. Russia has said it is committed to sell the S-300 surface-to-air missiles as a deterrent against foreign military intervention, under a contract struck in 2010 with Al-Assad. But Western powers, which are trying, along with Russia, to organize an international conference to end the 26-month-old conflict, say such a delivery would be hugely counter-productive.