Iran deploys defence system to protect its nuclear facilities

Iran has deployed S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system which it received from Russia, at its Fordow nuclear facility, Iran’s state TV reported.

The TV aired a video report showing the S-300 rockets.

“Our main priority is to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities under any circumstances,” the Commander of the Iranian Air Defence Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said.

“Today, Iran’s sky is one of the most secure in the Middle East.”

Fordow, around 100 kilometres south of the capital Tehran, launched its own version of the domestically-built long-range air defence missile system named Bavar-373 and unveiled it just one week before deploying the S-300.

It is designed to track down and penetrate targets like drones and missiles, as well as combat aircrafts at various altitudes. The weapon was successfully test-fired for the first time in August 2014.

“We did not intend to make an Iranian version of the S-300 – we wanted to build an Iranian system, and we built it,” Russia Today quoted Iran’s Minister of Defence Hossein Dehghan saying.