By Anees Barghouthy
JERUSALEM
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Tuesday voiced his country's concern over Russia's recent decision to lift a ban on the sale of S-300 missile-defense systems to Iran.
"Iran continues to arm itself and others in the region and the S-300 missile-defense system is something we are worried about," Yaalon said Tuesday in a statement.
Yaalon added that Iran was arming Hezbollah in Lebanon; was supporting the fighting in Syria; was involved in Yemen; and continued to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to help the two groups arm themselves.
The Israeli minister attributed the Russian move to a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers signed earlier this month in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"The Russian approval [to lift the ban] is a direct result of the Lausanne framework agreement," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday lifting the ban on the sale of the missile-defense system by Russia to Iran.
The contract for Russia to supply S-300 missile-defense systems to Iran was signed in 2007, but was unilaterally suspended in 2010 when the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Iran.
The missile systems, said to be among the world's most efficient anti-aircraft systems, are designed to defend against air attack.
Earlier this month, Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the U.S., China, France, Russia, the U.K. and Germany) unveiled a preliminary framework for talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program.
They have set themselves a June 30 deadline for reaching a deal.
Following the announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the negotiations with Iran as "historic."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly voiced his rejection of any nuclear deal with Iran, claiming such an agreement would endanger his country's security.
