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WASHINGTON-The United States does not expect Iran to receive a Russian air defense system this year, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday of the shield that would make any strike on Tehran's nuclear sites more difficult. Eric Edelman, the Pentagon's undersecretary for policy, was responding to questions at a Senate hearing about reports that Iran would soon acquire an advanced Russian anti-aircraft missile system."To the best of my knowledge, I don't believe we think the missiles referred to ... are in fact slated for delivery by the end of this year," Edelman told the Senate Armed Services Committee."But it is something that we are watching very closely," he said. "It is a very serious capability that would be a concern to us as well as others in the region."Western and Israeli experts have said that if Tehran acquired the S-300 missile batteries, it would make any strike by Israel or the United States on Iran's nuclear sites tougher. The system is also known in the West as the SA-20.The United States and others accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under cover of its nuclear energy program. Tehran rejects the charge.The nuclear dispute and hostile rhetoric have fed speculation especially in global financial markets that the risk of a confrontation between Iran and the United States or Israel was growing.The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute.To rad more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
