Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview published on Monday ahead of a visit to Moscow, denied that there was any deal to buy sophisticated missile systems from Russia. "Russia's defense minister has said that such a deal does not exist and thus he has answered the question," Assad told Izvestia in the interview ahead of his arrival in Moscow for the three-day visit. Rumors of the Iskander-E ground-to-ground and SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles deal have rung alarm bells in Israel and in the United States.
