IAF wants Iran free of air defense for 'future operations'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with air force chief Major-General Ido Nehushtan from the cockpit of a fighter jet. Nehushtan wants Iran free of S-300 defense system for future operations.

Amidst Iran's quest for acquiring the advanced S-300 air defense system, an Israeli military official says every effort should be made to stop the defense system from reaching countries where Israeli air force may need to operate.

With an escalation in Israeli rhetoric against Tehran, Iran has opted to acquire the sophisticated S-300 defense system -- which, according to Western experts, would rule out the possibility of an Israeli airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites.

While a deal has long been negotiated between Tehran and Moscow over the S-300 system, neither side has so far issued an official confirmation on the delivery of the system to Iran.

Speaking to Jerusalem Post, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) commander, Major General Ido Nehushtan, expressed alarm at the possibility that the system gets delivered to Iran.

"The S-300 is a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system that is very advanced, with long ranges and many capabilities," Nehushtan told the paper in the interview.

"We need to make every effort to stop this system from getting to places where the IAF needs to operate or may need to operate in the future," he added.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 km (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.

The Israeli official's word of warning comes as Israel -- the alleged sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East -- accuses Iran of efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, maintaining that a "nuclear Iran" is the prime existential threat to its security.

Tehran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

Press TV