Israel will dispatch top diplomatic official Major General Amos Gilad to Russia for meetings with high ranking military and diplomatic figures in an attempt to halt a rumored sale of its S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.

The highly advanced system would make Israel’s long-threatened attack on Iran far more difficult. Israel previously threatened to develop an “electronic warfare device” that would neutralize the S-300, the backbone of Russia’s air defense, in retaliation for any such sale.

Rumors of the sale have persisted for a year now, and the Russian Foreign Ministry still insists it has no intention of completing any such transaction with the Iranian government. Still, Israeli officials insist the Russian government has reached a secret deal with Iran in recent weeks on the sale, something officials in Israel’s Foreign Ministry speculated was meant to antagonize incoming US President Barack Obama.

Earlier this year US military adviser Dan Goure described the potential sale as a “game-changer,” and said it would be a catalyst for an Israeli attack on the nation before it was activated.

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