[Iran Press TV] US President Barack ObamaI've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go...
says he was not surprised about Russia's decision to sell S-300 missile system to Iran because the sale was not prohibited by sanctions and the weapons are defensive.
"They actually stopped the sale, paused or suspended the sale at our request. And I'm frankly surprised that it held this long, given that they were not prohibited by sanctions from selling these defensive weapons," Obama said on Friday.
"When I say I'm not surprised, given some of the deterioration in the relationship between Russia and the United States, and the fact that their economy is under strain and this was a substantial sale," he added.
Obama's remarks contradicted the Pentagon's statement about the sale.
Pentagon front man Colonel Steve Warren announced that the US military is against Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...'s decision to sell S-300 missile system to Iran.
"Our opposition to these sales is long and public. We believe it's unhelpful," Warren said on Monday. "We are raising that through the appropriate diplomatic channels."