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Did Israeli drones disrupt Iran’s satellite launch?
The article below in Haaretz looks at a recent report from Iran that hostile unmanned aerial vehicles disrupted the communications systems at the launch site of a missile carrying Iran’s first satellite to space.
The question is, who was behind this?
To read the article, click below:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069876.html
Israel: Unmanned Aerial Influence Over Russia?
By: Meir Javedanfar
15/11/08
The report today in Haaretz that Russia is seeking to purchase Israeli-made spy planes is a surprise, to say the least.
It shows how times have changed. Russia, the successor to the mighty USSR for years supplied weapons to
Israel’s enemies. It now wants to purchase Israeli weapons.
According to the report, the Russians were impressed by the performance of the Israeli UAVs during the recent Georgian conflict.
The sale of the UAVs will boost the reputation of Israel’s aeronautical industry.
However, there is one area which should not be overlooked.
Russia is considering the sale of S-300 missiles to Iran.
One possibility that Israel will have to take into consideration is that the Russians may reverse engineer the UAVs. And who knows, maybe in a number of years, they will sell their own Israeli copied UAVs to Iran or Syria.
This sale also offers an opportunity. Israel wants to improve its bargaining position with Russia, because Moscow is an important player in the dispute surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. Furthermore, as a member of the Quartet, Russia is an important party in the Israeli – Palestinian peace talks, while its good relations with Damascus add to its influence in the negotiations between Israel and Syria. Last but not least, the recent dispute with Washington, and Russia’s stationing of missiles in Kaliningrad, have added more weight to Russia’s strategic standing.
The sale of UAVs will not be a game changer. But it will most probably provide the Israeli point of view with more sympathy and allies in Moscow, than before. This will be a welcomed change as Israel has until today had very little lobbying power in the Kremlin.