Russia agrees to deliver S-300 missile system to Iran

Russia will deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported a Russian official as saying yesterday.

Sergey Chemezov, the head of the state-owned Rostec, confirmed the report, noting that Russia and Iran signed a contract to fulfil a deal forged in 2007.

In a statement, Chemezov said: “The contract on delivery of S-300 to Iran has not only been signed by the sides but has already entered into force.”

The deal, worth $800 million, was signed in 2007 and it states that Russia is to deliver the S-300 defence system to Iran. Moscow was obliged to freeze the deal due to the UN sanctions imposed on Iran in 2010.

In April this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the Russian sanctions on the deal. The world’s largest powers had not reached a deal with Iran regarding its nuclear programme at that time.

Russian S-300 missiles is both a defensive and assaultive system and it is five times faster than the speed of sound and is able to intercept assaultive rockets at a distance of 400 kilometres.

Previously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that this system is fully defensive and does not threaten the security of any of Iran’s neighbouring countries.