'US Fears Russia to Sell S-300 to Iran'

US intelligence is concerned Moscow will supply the S-300 anti-aircraft-missile system to Iran if Washington pushes through NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, the Telegraph reported Sunday.

The S-300 is one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in the world today and has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. It has a range of about 200 kilometers and can hit targets at altitudes of 27,000 meters.

Iran's acquisition of the system would vastly upgrade Iranian defenses against any air strike on its nuclear sites, Pentagon adviser Dan Goure was quoted by the British newspaper as saying. "This is a system that scares every Western air force," he added.

"If Teheran obtained the S-300, it would be a game-changer in military thinking for tackling Iran. That could be a catalyst for Israeli air attacks before it's operational," he said.

George Friedman, director of Stratfor, a leading US private intelligence agency was quoted by the Telegraph as saying that if the S-300 became operational, it would effectively rule out an IAF strike and seriously complicate any US air raid.

In early August, a top defense official told The Jerusalem Post that if Russia goes through with the sale of the S-300 to Iran, Israel will use an electronic warfare device now under development to neutralize it and as a result present Russia as vulnerable to air infiltrations.

Friedman said Moscow was saying that if US and Western Europe don't stop meddling in its sphere of influence, the S-300 deal would go ahead. "Back Georgia and Ukraine for NATO membership and you'll see the S-300 sent to Iran. It is a very powerful bargaining chip and a major deterrent to US actions in the region. Moscow is playing very strategically on America's obsession with Iran," the UK paper quoted Friedman as saying.