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Russian official: Iran capable of repelling possible U.S. air strike
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

Iran would be able to repel a possible United States air strike using advanced Russian air defense systems, a high-ranking Russian military official was quoted as saying Friday in the Russian daily Novosti.

Rumors had surfaced by Russian and foreign media over the last week that the U.S. was planning a missile strike against Iran, codenamed Bite, at 4:00 A.M. local time April 6. The operation was expected to deliver air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over a 12-hour period to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons, according to Novosti.

"In line with my assessment, Iran's air defense system is strong enough," Colonel General Yury Solovyov, commander of Russia's Air Defense Forces Special Command told Novosti. "Currently Iran has our [Russian] air defense missile systems, which are capable of tackling U.S. combat aircraft. Iran also has French and other countries' [defense] systems."

Russia has been active promoting a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue. According to Solovyov, Russia is being kept up to date on development in the Persian Gulf region.

According to Novosti, a Russian security official said last week that Moscow had received intelligence information according to which the U.S. military would be prepared to strike Iran in early April.

Russian official: Iran capable of repelling possible U.S. air strike (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/846301.html)