Moscow and Tehran signed an $800-million deal for the delivery of five S-300 missile systems in 2007 [Image: Ria Novosti]Iran will begin taking delivery of the S-300 missiles system from Russia in the next two months, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan has confirmed.
The order would be completed by the end of the year, Tehran says.
In April last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to lift the ban on sales of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Russia canceled a contract to deliver the advanced anti-missile rocket system to Iran in 2010 following UN sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. Tehran had sued Moscow in the Geneva Arbitration Court in 2011 for the cancelation.
Moscow and Tehran had signed an $800-million deal for the delivery of five S-300 missile systems in 2007.
Tehran and Moscow have also started talks on the supply of the Russian-made Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran, Dehghan was quoted by Iranian agency Fars as saying.
“We have even decided on the number of Sukhoi-30 fighter jets that we want to buy,” Dehghan said.
Tehran agreed the deal on curbing its nuclear work in July last year and international sanctions were lifted in January.
Iran’s army will be equipped with Russian-made T-90 battle tanks in the near future, Commander of Iran’s army’s ground force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced in Tehran in December.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached out to Middle East leaders, including Iran, in a bid to reach consensus on a strategy to destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS).
Moscow and Tehran have supported Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad and insist that he be part of an interim political process and future elections.
In a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in November, Putin thanked the Islamic Republic for its support of Russia’s military campaign in Syria.
“All this is done, of course, in agreement with the Iranian partners … I think that without them it would be impossible,” Putin said.
For his part, Rouhani pledged to increase cooperation with Russia to destroy what he called a common enemy.
“Whereas some countries are only indulging in anti-terrorist oratory and taking demonstrative actions, our two countries have proved that this issue can be addressed seriously,” he said in reference to Western powers who have failed to weaken ISIL in the past 20 months.
TBP and Agencies
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