Ruslan Ostashko. Screenshot of the video
News of the story
"On Point"
MINSK, 2 April (BelTA) – In a recent episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel, editor-in-chief of PolitRussia, political scientist Ruslan Ostashko shared his view on what could push Iran to deliver a powerful response, and also discussed U.S. arms supply priorities.
Discussing the war in Iran and Israel’s weapons capabilities, Ruslan Ostashko noted: “There is a system under the agreement between Europe and the United States whereby Europeans, in essence, pay real money – not some exchange deals or guarantees – but real money to purchase weapons and send them to Ukraine without direct American supplies. So, the Europeans have already paid the Americans for this weaponry, and the Americans said: yes, we have received your money, but we will not send the weapons to you – we will send them to the Middle East because they are needed more there, and you will wait – nothing will happen to you.”
“Continuing this parallel with Ukraine, Spain, if I am not mistaken, agreed to transfer 5 or 6 Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, given that Israel launches 200 per day. So from that, we can get an idea of the scale of air defense systems that Gulf states need right now to repel an Iranian attack,” the political scientist said.
Ruslan Ostashko pointed out that at the same time, very little is known about Iran’s current capabilities. “There is an assumption that they continue to produce both missiles and drones, and their capabilities have not yet been exhausted. If we imagine a kind of apocalyptic scenario in which Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are stockpiling missiles and drones for a large-scale strike and at some point, deliver a strike with five thousand missiles and drones combined, then no air defense or missile defense system in the region would be able to cope with it. And we would see colossal damage to key facilities,” the political scientist said.
“Iran is simply biding its time – waiting to see whether there will be a ground operation and whether there will indeed be systematic and significant strikes with major, clear damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities – possibly releasing radioactive materials – or to desalination plants,” Ruslan Ostashko opined. “Iran is not as dependent on desalination as other Gulf states, because it has access to water, but it would still be a problem. And then Iran might respond in a way that they won't soon forget.”
“Continuing this parallel with Ukraine, Spain, if I am not mistaken, agreed to transfer 5 or 6 Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, given that Israel launches 200 per day. So from that, we can get an idea of the scale of air defense systems that Gulf states need right now to repel an Iranian attack,” the political scientist said.
Ruslan Ostashko pointed out that at the same time, very little is known about Iran’s current capabilities. “There is an assumption that they continue to produce both missiles and drones, and their capabilities have not yet been exhausted. If we imagine a kind of apocalyptic scenario in which Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are stockpiling missiles and drones for a large-scale strike and at some point, deliver a strike with five thousand missiles and drones combined, then no air defense or missile defense system in the region would be able to cope with it. And we would see colossal damage to key facilities,” the political scientist said.
“Iran is simply biding its time – waiting to see whether there will be a ground operation and whether there will indeed be systematic and significant strikes with major, clear damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities – possibly releasing radioactive materials – or to desalination plants,” Ruslan Ostashko opined. “Iran is not as dependent on desalination as other Gulf states, because it has access to water, but it would still be a problem. And then Iran might respond in a way that they won't soon forget.”
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