Azernews.Az

Iran is set to hold massive anti-aircraft military exercises in late October - early November, Commander of Iran's Khatam Al-Anbiya base, general Farzad Esmaili said, ISNA reported.

The general made the remarks at the press conference timed to the day of Iranian anti-aircraft forces, adding that these exercises will be the biggest ever held in Iran thus far.

Speaking of Iran's manufacture of domestic anti-aircraft missile systems, Esmaili noted that about 30 percent of works on one such system have already been completed, Fars reported.

Esmaili said that the system is based on Russian S-300 anti-aircraft system, and it would be called "Bavar-373".

He added that the main parts of the system have already been constructed, and thus far there are no problems regarding the production.

Russia and Iran signed a contract to deliver S-300 to Iran, for the amount of $1 billion.

However, after the West imposed the embargo on offensive weapon supplies to Tehran, Moscow canceled the contract, even though, it stated that S-300 is defensive, rather than offensive weapon.

Eslami noted that Iran has a strong anti-aircraft force, reminding about the incident in 2010, during the "Velayat" military exercises in Iran's Ashegan province, when Iranian forces gave warnings to the two U.S. reconnaissance jets.