United Liberty

The Russian government’s current bid for military hegemony in Asia and Europe has many hearts a-fluttering. In fact, the reporting on Russia seems more dramatic lately, and it is unclear whether this is a result of heightened threat perception in the US and Europe or increased aggressive posturing from Moscow.

Medvedev makes public claims about wishing to restore and heighten Russian-American relations, while noting that NATO expansion puts a little wedge in such wishes. He explicitly named NATO expansion as a reason for Russia’s nuclear rearmament plans. This week, the Russian government confirmed the existence of a missile contract with Iran. Medvedev can use the Iran missile contract issue as leverage on the question of NATO expansion in next month’s meeting with President Obama. According to World News Wire:

Russian officials have consistently denied claims the country already has provided some of the S-300 missiles to Iran. They have not said whether a contract existed.

The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies and the independent Interfax quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying the contract was signed two years ago. Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.

Supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months.

Israel and the U.S. fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities - including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country’s first atomic power plant, which is now being built by Russian contractors at Bushehr.

That would make a military strike on the Iranian facilities much more difficult.

It was not clear why the missiles have not been delivered, but the reports cited the defense official as saying “fulfillment of the contract will mainly depend on the current international situation and the decision of the country’s leadership.”

The extent to which the Obama administration chooses to identify Israel’s security interests with the security interests of the US in the Middle East will the determine effectiveness of Medvedev’s bargaining chip. In the same article, Russian analyst  Ruslan Pukhov of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, claims that the Kremlin considers the missile contract “as primarily a political rather than commercial matter”. RIA-Novosti quoted Pukhov as saying, “the S-300 contract, and cooperation with Iran in general, is regarded by Moscow only as an instrument of political bargaining with the West and not as a way of realizing the fundamental defense and commercial interests of Russia”. So far, the US has downplayed the “Russian threat” of rearmament, but the Iranian missile contract might change the Obama administration’ tone.

To add more meat to the context:

• “Russia to decide on air defence for Iran”, Infowars.
• The Uvat oil fields are producing nicely, providing the Russian government with increased revenue expectation and indubitable energy security at a time when both are scarce.
• “Polish minister wants to see Russia in NATO”, CNBC.
• “Russia calls for a role for gold in the international currency reserve”, Economic Policy Journal.
• “Russia plans to create Artic military force”, AP.
• “Unrest threat as crisis hits Russia”, BBC. The scars left by communism continue to harm the economy.
• SOVA Center claims that Russian citizens face lots of problems when seeking to exercise their right to freedom of conscience. Russian anti-extremism legislation is unable to control the process.
• “Commissioner advertises Russian oil firm”, EurActiv. Details on Russian oil prices and production.
• “Israel replaces Russia as India’s top military supplier”, World Tribune.
• “Got arrested and escaped” on Oleg Kozlovsky’s blog.
• Diary of an Uzbek Gastarbeiter.
• “Russian movie gives Kremlin view of Georgia war”, CBS.