Responding to Russia’s sale of an anti-missile system to Iran, President Obama said Friday he’s surprised it didn’t happen sooner, given the “deterioration” of Moscow’s relations with the U.S.
Mr. Obama said the sale of the $800 million weapons system was slated to take place in 2009, but “they actually stopped the sale, paused or suspended the sale at our request.”
“And I’m frankly surprised that it held this long, given that they were not prohibited by sanctions from selling these defensive weapons,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference. “When I say I’m not surprised, given some of the deterioration in the relationship between Russia and the United States, and the fact that their economy is under strain and this was a substantial sale.”
The White House has said it won’t allow the sale to complicate nuclear negotiations with Iran.
But Mr. Obama said of the proposed sale, “I do think that it sends a message about how important it is for us to look like we are credible in negotiations if in fact a deal fails, and we are needing to maintain sanctions.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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