World Press on Russian weapons supply to Syria (May 9, 2013)

Reuters published today an article "Israel asks Russia not to sell Syria advanced S-300 air shield". " Israel has asked Russia not to sell Syria an advanced air defense system which would help President Bashar al-Assad fend off foreign military intervention as he battles a more than two-year-old rebellion, Israeli officials said on Thursday," the article reads."The S-300 is designed to shoot down planes and missiles at 125-mile (200-km) ranges. It would enhance Syria's current Russian-supplied defenses, which did not deter Israel from launching devastating air strikes around Damascus last weekend," the article explains."We have raised objections to this (sale) with the Russians, and the Americans have too," an Israeli official told Reuters.There was no immediate comment from Moscow or Damascus.In 2010, Russia backed out of a tentative S-300 sale to Iran that had been in the works for years. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cited U.N. sanctions imposed that year over Iran's defiance of international demands to curb its nuclear program.Israel and the United States, which threaten military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities if diplomatic alternatives fail, had lobbied Moscow to drop the deal with Tehran," the article concludes.