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Senator Levin: â€œThe Russian offer to share early warning data from the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan would be useful to the United Statesâ€

24 March 2009 12:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva â€“APA. If the U.S. and Russia set aside differences on missile defense and began cooperating against Iran they could make a decisive difference in weakening Iran as a missile threat, Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told a defense conference in Washington, APA reports quoting the Associated Press. Levin argued for the start of U.S.-Russian cooperation on defenses against Iranian missiles. "Even if we were simply to begin serious discussions on the subject (it) would send a powerful signal to Iran," Levin said. "Iran would face in a dramatic way a growing unity against her pursuit of dangerous nuclear technology."
Levin cited two matters the United States and Russia could take up immediately: a previous Russian offer to share data from an early warning radar system in Gabala, Azerbaijan, and a never-executed U.S.-Russian agreement to open a facility in Moscow for sharing missile-related data. â€œThe Russians offered to share early warning data from the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan. That radar information would be useful to the United States, as a supplement to our existing radar capabilities for all ranges of missile defense. Also, the United States and Russia previously agreed on a Joint Data Exchange Center in Moscow, but the effort to establish such a center got bogged down in differences over tax and liability issues. We should resume serious talks to resolve these differencesâ€, said Levin. â€œWe have a new opportunity to seek a cooperative approach with Russia on missile defense, and we should seize it," Levin said. "The upside potential of such an effort is huge â€” a geopolitical game changer."