UN Resolution 1929 - Sanctions on Iran

[Peter Presland]

This was on Press TV a couple of days ago here it is from CSIS. Confirmation (for me anyway) that Russia really is moving significantly towards accommodation with the US/UK/NATO.

Don't have the references to hand but I clearly recall Russian Spokesmen stating that the S300 - being a defensive system - would NOT be embargoed by the passing of UNR 1929, during the manoeuvring leading up to the vote. Now we have them saying 'oops sorry, the system IS covered'. Are we seriously expected to believe that, post vote, they have finally gotten around to analysing the content of what they were voting on and discovered it was something other than they believed beforehand? Christ! - they're worse than the West when it comes to absurd, convoluted self-justifiction. The plain fact is they've rolled over and had their tummies tickled.

Putin standing up to the US eh? - fact is he's a pussy cat and, if a couple of old blogspot sites I have archived are anything to go by, he is also in the pocket of MI6.

After a period of confusion and apparent contradiction over whether the Russian government would continue in its planned sale of S-300 missiles to Iran following the latest round of U.N. Security Council sanctions, the Russian government has confirmed that the sale has indeed been cancelled. The Russian Federal Service on Military-Technical Cooperation released a statement that announced

An analysis of the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 1929 adopted on June 9, 2010, conducted by the FSMTC experts, shows that the restrictive measures contained in the document apply to the delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Iran as well.

The announcement came on the heels of a report from a presidential aide in France France during a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who said that

Russia had decided to "freeze the delivery of the S-300 missiles."

Putin also said supporting the Iran sanctions was a decision that "wasn't exactly easy," according to the presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The cancellation of the sale marks the apparent end of a contentious arms deal that has irked both American and Israeli officials because of its ability to strengthen Iranian air defense capabilities. As we noted in our earlier blog post about the sale, while the specific language of the Security Council sanctions do not prohibit the sale, the sanctions do call

upon all States to exercise vigilance and restraint over the supply, sale, transfer, provision, manufacture and use of all other arms and related materiel [outside the battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms specifically prohibited]

The Russian government apparently has decided that the S-300 deal falls within the spirit, if not the precise wording, of the text. As State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said

For the first time, the resolution calls for states to exercise vigilance and restraint in the sale or transfer of all other arms and related materiel. We appreciate Russia's restraint in the transfer of the S-300 missile system to Iran.

The Russian cancellation is a diplomatic victory for the United States, which has consistently opposed the sale but was unable to pass a series of Security Council sanctions that expressly prohibited such a sale. The Russian decision could be the start of further cooperation between the United States and Russia on Iran and may signal success in the Obama Administration’s attempts to reset relations with Russia.

All is not positive news, however. One cancelled arms deal is unlikely to prompt Iran to seriously reconsider its nuclear program. What’s more, the Russian government has in fact expressed its determination to maintain defense ties and cooperation with Iran. The cancellation of the missile deal may also remove one of the checks on an Israeli unilateral military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, an operation that would have tremendously destabilizing effects in the Middle East and around the world. The United States will be happy that Russia cancelled the S-300 deal, but must only renew its commitment to resolving the situation peacefully and not see the cancellation as opening up the possibility for a military strike.