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Iran locks nuclear enrichment site with Russian-made missile

Politics Materials 29 August 2016 11:20 (UTC +04:00)
Shortly after receiving the first consignment of the S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, Iran used the Russian-made weaponry to secure its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant
Iran locks nuclear enrichment site with Russian-made missile

Tehran, Iran, August 29

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Shortly after receiving the first consignment of the S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, Iran used the Russian-made weaponry to secure its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

The first pictures of the deployment of the missiles were broadcast by the IRIB TV on August 28.

The nuclear facility was to undergo alterations under the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was put into practice by Iran one side and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, and China, plus Germany) on the other on January 16.

On February 16, the New York Times reported that “Under the terms of the nuclear agreement with Iran, two-thirds of the centrifuges inside Fordo have been removed in recent months, along with all nuclear material. The facility is banned from any nuclear-related work and is being converted to other uses, eliminating the threat that prompted the attack plan, at least for the next 15 years.”

The site was revealed in September 2009. In January 2012 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran had started producing uranium enriched up to 20% for medical purposes and that material “remains under the agency’s containment and surveillance.”

The $800-million Moscow-Tehran contract to deliver Russian S-300 system to Iran was signed in 2007. It was suspended after the adoption of the UN Security Council’s sanctions on Iran in mid-2010.

In 2011, Iran sued Russia in the Geneva Arbitration Court after Moscow suspended the contract.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the S-300 delivery ban in April 2015, shortly after the six world powers and Iran reached a framework agreement over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Aug. 20 that Russia has delivered main part of the system to Iran.

Tehran has said it will completely receive the S-300 air defense system by the end of 2016.

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