Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 14
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Iranian military expert Hossein Aryan believes that Russia might deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran in short term.
Iran and Russia's defense ministers signed a defense deal on Jan.20, while Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to deliver a long-overdue missile system S-300 to Iran on Apr.13. Putin's decision was surprising to the U.S. and Israel, administrate strong worries against the decree, hours after the news broke out.
This is while Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Jan.20 that, the two sides have resolved problems concerning the delivery of Russia's S-300 missile defense systems to Iran.
Russia signed the contract in 2007 to sell Iran five S-300 ground-to-air missile systems. The $800-million contract to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran was cancelled in 2010 by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, falling in line with the UN sanctions imposed on Iran due to its disputed nuclear program. In turn, Tehran filed a currently-pending $4-billion lawsuit against Russia in Geneva's arbitration court.
Hossein Aryan told Trend Apr.14 that it seems Russia cancelled delivery of S-300 to Iran due to pressures of the U.S. and Israel in 2010, however, the relations between Russia and West has escalated since 2014 and the possibility of delivering S-300 to Iran has increased.
It is not clear whether there is a ready S-300 system to be delivered to Iran or not, as the sides have not announced any dates of delivery as of yet.
Vladislav Menshikov, the CEO of S-300 air defense systems manufacturer Almaz-Antei, said in August 2013 that Russia has dismantled and disposed the S-300 air defense missile systems originally intended for delivery to Iran.
"The hardware intended for Iran does not exist any more. We have dismantled it completely," Menshchikov told reporters at the time. He added that some elements, which could be re-used, have been used, while some other parts have been destroyed.
Hossein Aryan says that if to believe Menshikov's statements, it is not difficult for Russia to build new S-300 systems and have them delivered to Iran short term. The expert believes Menshikov's statement about the dismantled S-300 systems were politically motivated and far from reality.
Lifting ban on selling S-300 to Iran came in time as Iran and P5+1 reached a nuclear framework deal on April 2, which raised the hopes that the comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran be achieved by June 30.
Aryan said that, even during Boris Yeltsin's presidency, he signed an army agreement with Iran to deliver weapons, but the agreement was cancelled, facing the United States' pressure during Bill Clinton's term in office.
Iran has had "deep distrust" in relations with Russia since years ago due to several cancellations of military agreements by Moscow.