Any airstrike against Iran by the United States or Israel would be "unacceptable," the chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Monday.
RIA Novosti, 12 April 2010
"This is a last resort that exists in the plans of both the United States and Israel," Nikolai Makarov said.
Western powers suspect that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at making weapons, while Tehran claims it is pursuing nuclear technology for its civilian energy needs.
Makarov said that the Iranian leadership should also take into account that "the whole world is concerned about the [nuclear] problem."
"We should hear Iran and Iran should hear us and the global community, and undertake measures," Makarov added.
He also said that other states are likely to follow suit if Iran develops nuclear weapons.
"If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it might become an impetus for other states, and lead to further expansion of the nuclear club," he said, adding the Russian military department was against such a scenario.
He added that Russia's decision on whether to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran should be made by the country's leaders.
"This decision should be made at state level. We, the military, will follow the leadership's commands," Makarov said.
Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of at least five S-300 air defense systems to Tehran in December 2005. However, Moscow has not so far honored the contract, which many experts say is due to pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv.
Both the United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program and have expressed concern over S-300 deliveries, which would significantly strengthen Iran's air defenses.
Agree. We have IAEA to monitor nuclear activities of all countries which have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has not found any indication that Iran is not playing by the book. This means that IsraHell which is not a member and its attack dog USrael have no leg to stand on when it comes to their "fears" of Iran.
In conventional terms there is always the possibility of retaliation, but few people believe in carpet nuking IsraHell and USrael. Therefore, the most obvious solution would be to pass a Security Council resolution to the effect that the world community demands that any aggression on Iran will immediately be followed up by a Nurnberg trial against the aggressors from military to politicians, following the same, well established principles as were applied in trying the Germans.
As an incentive to IsraHell and USrael to behave as if they were part of civilization Russia and China might consider to give an ultimatum that aggression will immediately lead to dumping of US Treasuries. That would surely guarantee the long overdue regime change in USrael.
These people better think twice this time.