Moscow plans S-300 delivery to Tehran by 2016
By Sara Rajabova
A Russian high-ranking official has said Moscow is assembling its S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system to begin its shipment to Iran by 2016.
Vladimir Kozhin, President Vladimir Putin’s aide on military-technical cooperation, said Moscow is also modernizing some parts of the system and changing the contract terms - such as pricing, Press TV reported.
“The Iranians want them as soon as possible, and we are trying too. There is activity to prepare new legal contracts, new conditions and thus prepare systems for delivery,” Kozhin said.
President Putin signed a decree in mid-April to lift a ban on the supply of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.
Under the $800 million contract signed in 2007 by the two countries, Russia was to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran. However, it cancelled the contract in the wake of UN sanctions.
In turn, Tehran went as far as filing a $4 billion lawsuit against Russia’s intermediary agency for exports and imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services, Rosoboron export with Geneva's arbitration court. Iran said it has no intention to withdraw the lawsuit until it receives the missile systems.
Kozhinfurther added that some of the military systems that had been intended for sale to Iran were supplied to other clients, and that some parts of other S-300 systems stored across Russia have undergone “serious modernization” with the passage of years.
Meanwhile, Yan Novikov, the chief executive of Russia's state arms producer Almaz-Antey, confirmed the removal of all restrictions on S-300 deliveries to Tehran imposed by Moscow.
He said the company would supply Iran with the advanced S-300 missile system once a commercial agreement is reached.
The decision to deliver the missile systems came after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in Lausanne on April 2.
Iran, for its part, is waiting for the delivery of S-300 missiles to the country in the near future.
Iran's Ambassador to Russia, Mehdi Sanaei told Russian media that lifting the embargo on the delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Iran has provided a big opportunity for military and technical cooperation between Iran and Russia.
Sanaei said technical aspects should not be an obstacle to deliveries of Russian S-300 air defense systems to Iran as Moscow has already lifted the embargo in principle.
He also noted that if Moscow delivers S-300 missiles to Iran, the issue of current lawsuit against Russia over the previous contract will be settled.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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