Russian media outlets are reporting that the country’s president Vladimir Putin has authorized an $800 million sale of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran, potentially setting up a scenario in which Iranian airspace would be denied to Israeli aircraft conducting a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Analysts fear that the introduction of the missiles will destabilize the region by setting in motion a dynamic that will force the Israelis to act before the S-300 batteries come online.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the issue with European foreign ministers in May. “If the missiles are provided and become operational Israel’s entire airspace will become a no-fly zone,” Netanyahu told the European foreign ministers. “The missile transfer is a significant security challenge to Israel and we will not be able to stand idly by.”

By the end of the day the Putin administration had denied the report, which is in line with leaked cables indicating that Russia has long assured diplomats that Moscow had no intention of actually sending the missiles to Iran. A Xinhua report last month in fact quoted the head of the company producing the missiles as saying that Russia had dismantled and disposed of the S-300s intended for delivery to Iran.

[Photo: EllsworthSK / Wiki Commons]