News / Defense

Iran air defense takes delivery of S-300: Minister

Tuesday, 10 May 2016 10:21 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 May 2016 10:29 AM ]

Parts of the newly-received S-300 missile defense batteries are paraded in Tehran on April 17, 2016.

Iran’s defense minister says the country’s air defense has now been equipped with the Russian S-300 missile defense system.

Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan made the remarks on Tuesday, observing the country’s defense achievements at Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base.

“The strategic S-300 system has been provided to the air defense sector,” he said.

Last month, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said Tehran and Moscow had begun implementing a contract on the delivery of the Russian defense systems to the Islamic Republic.

Russia committed to delivering the systems to Iran under a USD 800-million deal in 2007 but refused to do so, citing UN sanctions against Iran over the country's nuclear program.

An Iranian military truck carries parts of the S-300 missile defense system during the Army Day parade in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Following Moscow’s refusal to deliver the systems, Iran filed a complaint against the relevant Russian arms manufacturer with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva.

In April 2015, President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban, following which Russia signed a new contract to supply Iran with the systems by the end of that year.

In his Tuesday remarks, the Iranian defense chief also said the country was in the final stages of manufacturing an indigenous long-range air defense system known as “Bavar (Belief) 373.”

“The system, which can be used to confront ballistic and cruise missiles, drones, and warplanes, will be manufactured and put on the production line this year,” Dehqan said.

He added that the system can simultaneously engage several targets.

The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.

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