Source: AFP / Now Lebanon
Russia has delivered supersonic cruise missiles to Syria despite the
violence shaking the Arab country and Israel's furious condemnation of
the deal, a news report said on Thursday.
"The Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles have been delivered
to Syria," a military source told the Interfax news agency without
disclosing when the shipment was made.
Russia signed a contract reportedly worth at least $300 million (222
million euros) in 2007 to supply its traditional Arab world ally with a
large shipment of the cruise missiles.
Reports said Russia intended to deliver 72 of the missiles to Syria in all.
The deal immediately angered Israel, which fears the weapons may fall
into the hands of Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.
Russia has since also come under growing pressure from Washington,
which wants all military sales to President Bashar al-Assad's regime
halted because of his deadly crackdown on Syrian street protests.
But Moscow has defended Assad against global pressure and this week
argued that its arms sales were permitted under international law and
would continue.
Another Russian official told Interfax that the missiles, which
operate as part of the Bastion mobile coastal defense system, "will be
able to protect Syria's entire coast against a possible attack from the
sea."
Each Bastion system is equipped with 36 cruise missiles as well as truck-mounted radar and other equipment.
It was not immediately clear how many of the missiles Russia has delivered to Syria so far.