Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov said Sunday, May 12, that a permanent staff of 20 officers is in place to run Russian fleet operations in the Mediterranean Sea. It will comprise five to six warships and possibly nuclear submarines which, say our military sources, are armed with nuclear ballistic missiles. debkafile: Russia’s step aims at safeguarding the Assad regime and securing its Hizballah and Iranian allies. It also signals Moscow’s Middle East comeback after a 21-year absence - to confront Israel and Turkey.
 

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sets off for the Black Sea town of Sochi Tuesday to call on President Vladimir Putin for a last-ditch bid to avert the sale to Syria of advanced S-300 anti-air missiles. His chances of success are extremely slim.  

The Obama administration’s slowcoach policy on Syria has given Iran and Hizballah unfettered access to intervene in the Syrian civil war, magnifying its lethality and prospects of its spilling over into Israel, Turkey and Jordan, says debkafile. It will further deteriorate when Washington’s expectations of an international conference are not recprocated by Moscow.

Moscow has removed the gloves in its defense of Syrian ruler Bashar Assad.  Wednesday, July 4, senior Russian official Ruslan Pukhov warned: “If the Syrian regime is changed by force or if Russia doesn't like the outcome, it most likely will respond by selling S-300s to Iran."  This threat gave substance to the hints thrown out by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his June 25 visit to Israel about breaking the UN arms embargo against Iran. debkafile’s military sources disclose that Israel has developed counter-measures for this advanced Russian missile.

Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin warned the Israel cabinet Sunday, Nov. 21:  "Tel Aviv will be a front line in the next conflict."  debkafile's military sources report he was referring to the thousands of missiles with enhanced ranges of 300 kilometers Syria and Hizballah have received from Iran and which Iranian engineers are outfitting with guidance systems to challenge Israel's aerial capabilities and missile defenses. Syria's chemical warheads are now fully guided.

Russia appears ready to sell Venezuela the same five S-300PMU-1 air defense missile battalions it withheld from Iran because of international sanctions. debkafile's sources report Venezuela's ruler Hugo Chavez offered to buy them when he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow Thursday, Oct. 14.  Israel turned to Washington to try and block the transaction for its original client, Iran, to get hold of the sophisticated interceptors through its good friend Chavez.

Iran is shopping around Russia's arms customers for S-300 missile technology hoping China will be forthcoming. Military chiefs have warned the regime that a US or Israeli attack is more probable than not and Iran's nuclear plants and Tehran are wide open without this advanced missile system.

Moscow has made two seemingly unconnected moves on the Iranian chess board in ten days. On August 11, it announced the deployment of the powerful S-300 interceptor missiles in Abkhazia on the Black Sea and, the next day, set Aug. 21 as the date for loading the first delivery ...

Israel's security suffered a major setback on the eve of its homeland security exercise (starting Sunday, May 23) from three Obama administration concessions for buying Moscow's backing for UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. it deletes the embargo on such sophisticated weaponry as the Russian S-300 systems sought by Tehran for shooting down any US or Israel warplanes attacking its nuclear sites.
Israel has yet to protest this blow to Washington or Moscow.

While Russia backs the US on watered-down UN Security Council sanctions for Iran, debkafile's military sources report Iranian Revolutionary Guards crews are surreptitiously training at Russian bases for operating advanced S-300 interceptor-missile systems, which are capable of fending off a potential attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

After its softening by Russia and China, the new sanctions motion does not ban the consignment of this weapon to Iran.