Russia to defy USA by selling anti-ship missiles to Syria
Russia is to defy Israel and the United States by supplying Syria with advanced anti-ship missiles despite fears that they could fall into the hands of Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed group based in southern Lebanon.
Anatoly Serdyukov, the Russian foreign minister, brushed aside pleas to halt the delivery of a consignment of P-800 Yakhont cruise missiles, arguing that Moscow had supplied Syria with an older version of the missile and had not encountered problems.
"The US and Israel ask us not to supply Syria with Yakhont," he told reporters during a confidence-building visit to the Pentagon. "But we do not see the concerns expressed by them that these arms will fall into the hands of terrorists.
"If that system did not fall into the hands of terrorists then why should the new one?"
Israel says the sale, which was initially agreed in 2007, threatens to alter the strategic military balance in the Levant because the missile could pose a serious threat to its naval ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
With a range of nearly 200 miles, the Yakhont is known for its accuracy and its ability to avoid detection because of its speed and low trajectory. It is also far more sophisticated that any of the anti-ship missiles presently in Syria's arsenal.
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