You’re probably sick of this topic by now and you’ve likely seen this most recent Russian denial of intent to sell the system to the Iranians.

Nevertheless, just wanted to note that, according to Interfax, on 6 October, Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director General for Russia and CIS Countries Pinhas Avivi confirmed to journalists something that I’ve figured was the case all along.

“[Israel has] a covert agreement with Russia that it would not sell offensive armaments to Iran and Syria… [The agreement] stipulates Russia’s avoidance of steps that might change the balance of forces [in the Middle East].”

Avivi also reportedly stated that

“The Israeli and Russian foreign ministries are permanent consultations with representatives of defense agencies. The sides decide which weaponry can be called defensive and which can be called offensive at the consultations.”

In addition, Avivi reportedly noted that Israel did not supply offensive arms to Georgia as a quid pro quo for a Russian promise not to supply offensive arms to Iran (or Syria). If one follows this logic, though, it seems that the Russians have went along with the Israeli argument that UAVs sold to Georgia are considered defensive, while the S-300s to Iran and Syria are considered offensive by both sides. Weird.