by Eli Leon, Yoni Hersch and Hezi Sternlicht
According to Russian media, delivery of S-300 air defense system imminent • Iran and Russia expected to sign deal on Russian Sukhoi aircraft • New York Times: Obama planned cyberattack on Iran as a contingency if talks failed.
The S-300 air defense System
|
Photo credit: AP  |
Iran was expected to receive its first S-300
air defense system from Russia on Thursday, Russian media reported
Wednesday. This will be the first the major weapons deal to be
implemented in the wake of the July 14 nuclear deal with the
international community, which brought an end to most of the sanctions
on Iran. But a Russian official denied the report later on Wednesday,
telling the state-run Russian news agency TASS that there were still
outstanding payment issues.
The Russian state news agency, RIA, reported
Wednesday that Moscow and Teheran were expected to sign another
procurement deal for the delivery of Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft.
The recent lifting of sanctions also means
Iran will now be able to engage in international commerce through the
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a network
for global financial transactions. According to a SWIFT official,
several Iranians banks have recently been reconnected to the system,
which is an integral part of the global financial system. Some 30
Iranian banks were disconnected from the system in 2012 as part of the
effort to pressure Iran to curtail its nuclear program.
According to an Indian report from Wednesday,
Iran would be able to use SWIFT to lay its hands on some $6 billion
generated from oil deals with India. Those funds were frozen while the
sanction regime was in place.
Meanwhile, according to a New York Times
report from Tuesday, the U.S. prepared a large-scale cyber attack on
Iran in the event the nuclear talks broke down. "In the early years of
the Obama administration, the United States developed an elaborate plan
for a cyber attack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its
nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict," the report said.
"The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to disable Iran's air
defenses, communications systems and crucial parts of its power grid,
and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear
deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was
fulfilled." According to the paper, the report is based on a new
documentary and was confirmed by intelligence officials.
Eli Leon, Yoni Hersch and Hezi Sternlicht
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=31855
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment