Russia has plans to sell Syria missiles that would place nearly the entire Jewish State within striking range. The Iskander-E missiles offered to Syria have a 175-mile target-radius, which would place most of Israel’s major cities, as well as the nuclear reactor in Dimona, at the mercy of the anti-Israel Syrian regime.
The US State Department criticized the deal on Wednesday, hinting that sanctions against Syria would be a possible response should the deal go through. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that Washington is against the sale of deadly military equipment to Syria, a state that harbors terror groups.
The Iskander-E missiles are far more advanced than the crude Scud missiles currently in Syria’s arsenal. Israelis have extensive experience with Scuds, as deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired dozens of them at heavily populated areas during the 1991 Gulf War.
Israel’s Channel Two TV also said Russia planned to sell Syria an unspecified number of SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles, which could threaten Israeli aircraft over Syria and southern Lebanon and be passed to any of the Syrian-backed terror groups.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that there is currently no crisis with Russia over the deal. "We have close contacts with the Russians," he said. "We had consultations over the past few days, and we hope to reach the necessary agreement."
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov responded to the reports during a visit to the US on Wednesday. He denied Russia was conducting talks with Syria on the sale of the Iskander-E missiles - though he did not comment on the sale of the SA-18s. "Talks with Syria is a figment of imagination," Ivanov said.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to visit Moscow for the first time on January 24 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The US State Department criticized the deal on Wednesday, hinting that sanctions against Syria would be a possible response should the deal go through. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that Washington is against the sale of deadly military equipment to Syria, a state that harbors terror groups.
The Iskander-E missiles are far more advanced than the crude Scud missiles currently in Syria’s arsenal. Israelis have extensive experience with Scuds, as deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired dozens of them at heavily populated areas during the 1991 Gulf War.
Israel’s Channel Two TV also said Russia planned to sell Syria an unspecified number of SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles, which could threaten Israeli aircraft over Syria and southern Lebanon and be passed to any of the Syrian-backed terror groups.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that there is currently no crisis with Russia over the deal. "We have close contacts with the Russians," he said. "We had consultations over the past few days, and we hope to reach the necessary agreement."
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov responded to the reports during a visit to the US on Wednesday. He denied Russia was conducting talks with Syria on the sale of the Iskander-E missiles - though he did not comment on the sale of the SA-18s. "Talks with Syria is a figment of imagination," Ivanov said.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to visit Moscow for the first time on January 24 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.