As mutual fear, mistrust and polarisation increases between Iran and Israel, an arms race between the two sworn enemies is gathering momentum. Central to this is the Russian-made S-300 missile system. Israel and Iran both are involved in arms deals with Russia, trying to win the arms race.

As mutual fear, mistrust and polarisation increases between Iran and Israel, an arms race between the two sworn enemies is gathering momentum. Central to this is the Russian-made S-300 missile system. It is one of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft missile systems in the world today and air power experts say it represents a formidable defence against conventional aircraft. In 2005, Iran sought to buy five batteries of the S-300 from Russia in a deal believed to be worth around $800 million. The S-300 would significantly boost Iran's defence capability at a time when it is concerned about the US military's presence in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan and Israeli threats to target its nuclear facilities. But the S-300 deal has yet to go through and Israel has been engaging in some diplomatic wrangling in an attempt to ensure that it does not. In early June 2009, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Russian-speaking foreign minister, visited Moscow. He was on a mission to convince Russia to put an end to its arms deals with Iran and Syria and, in particular, to halt the sale and delivery of Russia's S-300 missile system to Iran. Lieberman had a bargaining chip: If Russia went ahead with the sale to Iran, Israel might continue to provide hi-tec weapons to neighbouring Georgia, which engaged Russia in a war last year. Filmmaker Abdallah el-Binni investigates this high-stakes game of brinkmanship as it threatens to spread to other countries in the region. Russian spending on arms will rise to a record $46.5 billion next year, a senior government official said on Friday, as the Kremlin moves to beef up the armed forces after a conflict in Georgia. Russian national defence orders will rise to 1.2 trillion roubles ($46.55 billion) in 2009, 70 billion roubles higher than previously planned, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was shown saying on Russian television. "We have managed to convince the Finance Ministry that the volume of state defence orders in 2009 will be 70 billion higher than previously planned," Ivanov told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

From: AlJazeera.

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