Tue Aug 18, 2015 | 6:54 AM EDT
DUBAI (Reuters) -
Iran will sign a contract with Russia next week to buy four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, the Iranian defense minister
said on Tuesday, bringing Tehran closer to
acquiring an advanced air defense capability.
Russian state arms producer Almaz-Antey in
June said it would supply Iran with a
modernized version of the S-300, among the
world's most capable air defense systems, once a commercial agreement was reached.
"The text of the contract is ready and our
friends will go to Russia next week to sign the
contract," Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan
was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Russia says it canceled a contract to deliver
S-300s to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the
West. But President Vladimir Putin lifted that
self-imposed ban in April following an interim
nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Tuesday's announcement came a day after
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
visited Moscow to discuss the civil war in Syria,
in which Tehran and Moscow support President Bashar al-Assad.
Western powers and most Arab countries have called for Assad to resign as part of a peace deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most vocal critics of last month's final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, has expressed Israel's "dismay" at Russia's decision to supply the S-300s to Tehran.
Dehghan said Iran had initially planned to
acquire three "battalions" of S-300 launchers,
but had since increased its order to four. He did not specify how many missile launchers
would be in each battalion, a standard military
grouping whose size can vary depending on
nationality, equipment and role.
Pieter Wezeman, an arms expert at the
Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, said each battalion was likely to be an
independent unit comprising a radar system,
control system, and an unknown number of
launchers.
"With four battalions, they should be able to
deploy missile systems in four different
locations," he said.
The S-300, first deployed at the height of the
Cold War in 1979, can engage multiple aircraft
and ballistic missiles up to 300 km (186 miles)
away.
Dehghan also said Iran was negotiating with
Russia to buy fighter jets, in a likely attempt to
upgrade its aging fleet of mostly U.S.-made jets
for which it cannot obtain spare parts or
upgrades due to long-standing hostility between the two countries. He did not provide further details.
(Reporting by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Raissa
Kasolowsky)
***Opinion***
I still don't trust those idiots in Tehran ... Seems tro me they are forever trying to start crap or preparing to start some ... That's why Israel is so worked up ... They sure as hell don't trust them!!
DUBAI (Reuters) -
Iran will sign a contract with Russia next week to buy four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, the Iranian defense minister
said on Tuesday, bringing Tehran closer to
acquiring an advanced air defense capability.
Russian state arms producer Almaz-Antey in
June said it would supply Iran with a
modernized version of the S-300, among the
world's most capable air defense systems, once a commercial agreement was reached.
"The text of the contract is ready and our
friends will go to Russia next week to sign the
contract," Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan
was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
Russia says it canceled a contract to deliver
S-300s to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the
West. But President Vladimir Putin lifted that
self-imposed ban in April following an interim
nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Tuesday's announcement came a day after
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
visited Moscow to discuss the civil war in Syria,
in which Tehran and Moscow support President Bashar al-Assad.
Western powers and most Arab countries have called for Assad to resign as part of a peace deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most vocal critics of last month's final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, has expressed Israel's "dismay" at Russia's decision to supply the S-300s to Tehran.
Dehghan said Iran had initially planned to
acquire three "battalions" of S-300 launchers,
but had since increased its order to four. He did not specify how many missile launchers
would be in each battalion, a standard military
grouping whose size can vary depending on
nationality, equipment and role.
Pieter Wezeman, an arms expert at the
Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, said each battalion was likely to be an
independent unit comprising a radar system,
control system, and an unknown number of
launchers.
"With four battalions, they should be able to
deploy missile systems in four different
locations," he said.
The S-300, first deployed at the height of the
Cold War in 1979, can engage multiple aircraft
and ballistic missiles up to 300 km (186 miles)
away.
Dehghan also said Iran was negotiating with
Russia to buy fighter jets, in a likely attempt to
upgrade its aging fleet of mostly U.S.-made jets
for which it cannot obtain spare parts or
upgrades due to long-standing hostility between the two countries. He did not provide further details.
(Reporting by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Raissa
Kasolowsky)
***Opinion***
I still don't trust those idiots in Tehran ... Seems tro me they are forever trying to start crap or preparing to start some ... That's why Israel is so worked up ... They sure as hell don't trust them!!
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
USMC
USMC
Nemo me impune lacessit