US threatens India with sanctions over purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile systems

Young journalists club

News ID: 44768
Iran » Iran
Publish Date: 11:58 - 09 January 2020
Tehran 09 January_The United States has warned India not to purchase advanced Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, urging New Delhi to reconsider purchasing Russia’s air shield systems or face the “risk for sanctions.”

US threatens India with sanctions over purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile systemsTEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-A senior official at the US State Department made the remarks during a press briefing on Wednesday, stressing that the Asian country was not immune to Washington’s sanctions over the deal with Moscow, just like Turkey, which is also under the threat of US sanctions over a similar deal purchasing the same missile platform.

“There is not a blanket waiver. Congress certainly never designed that or anticipated that, nor did the administration,” he said.

The unnamed official stressed that some might wrongly think that since Congress designated India’s current military status several years ago, then, New Delhi enjoys “a protection from any sort of sanctions.” However, this is a misinterpretation, he emphasized.

Taking any punitive measures against New Delhi would be adopted in line with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), signed into law in 2017. The act, despite what its name suggests, has largely been brandished by Washington as a warning to allied nations mulling weapons deals with Russia – namely Turkey and India.

“While there’s not a blanket waiver, there’s also not a blanket application. And so what I mean by that is there is a case-by-case analysis on where CAATSA sanctions could be applied. CAATSA sanctions also can range in depth as to how deep-cutting and to the entities and the people. And those options are always there,” further said the US official added.

The S-400 is an advanced Russian missile system designed to detect, track, and destroy planes, drones, or missiles as far as 402 kilometers away.

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