Obama: Russians Actually Postponed Sale of Missiles to Iran ‘at My Request’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
MATTHEWS: “What about the Iranians and the Russians? They just conducted — they are going to buy the S-300s. They are going to be surface-to-air missiles. Doesn’t that put us in a sideways and the Israelis in a situation if they do weaponize their nuclear program they will have a fantastic defense system on an attack on any of their nuclear facilities?” 
OBAMA: “This is a sale pending for six years. In fact, the Russians stopped it at my request as we were putting together the sanctions that ultimately brought the Iranians to the table. You know, it’s of concern. We object to it particularly because right now we’re still negotiating to make sure that they don’t get a nuclear weapon, but as I said before, Chris, we have to keep this in perspective. Our defense budget’s just a little under $600 billion. Theirs is a little over $17 billion. Even if they have got some air defense systems, you know, if we had to, we could penetrate them. Now, my goal is not to resolve conflicts and tensions in the region through more war. My goal is to make sure that, you know, we are able to negotiate a deal that we can verify that ensures that Israel is safe and ensures that our neighbors like Saudi Arabia and the gulf countries are safe and that there’s not a nuclear arms race in the region, but ultimately it’s going to be up to the Iranians to make sure that they — that they come to the table prepared to memorialize what has already been agreed to. There are details that have to be worked out and they could walk away over the next three months, but if in fact we get a deal that the world community can verify and trust, then that’s the best path forward. It won’t eliminate all the other conflicts that we may have with Iran including what we’re seeing with respect to Yemen or what’s happening in Syria, but what it does do is create a climate and an atmosphere in which potentially we can start lessening some of the tensions in the area.”