Iran Expects New S-300 Deal With Russia by End of Next Week

Putin said at the time that lifting the ban could encourage Iran to finalize the nuclear deal.

Iran will sign a contract with Russia next week to buy four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, the Iranian defence minister said on Tuesday, bringing Tehran closer to acquiring an advanced air defence capability.

“The new contract will differ from the previous contract in that it will have a different price and new terms for delivery”.

The interviewee noted that, “the new document will not concern the S-300PMU, because it is out of production, but rather the modified S-300V4 (export-name – “Antey-2500″)”.

It’s unclear how many missile launchers are in each battalion, but at minimum, each battalion will be able to deploy in a separate location.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had been ready to deliver the S-300 to Iran already in 2010, but had previously agreed to ban the sale under pressure from the US.

The decision to deliver the missile system came after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany – reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.

As far as Israel is concerned, four S-300 systems would severely hamper Israel’s unilateral strike option, though not entirely eliminating it.

“The current international system is on the gradual state of transience; after the fall of bipolar world, virtually no other alternative had risen to dominance since then; regional security is a serious issue; as a country located in a critical geography and facing diverse forms of threats, we are also in a continuous change of positions; for meeting such situation and its demands, our armed forces should regularly survey threats and equip itself accordingly to hit success”, emphasized the Defense Minister. Subsequent variations were developed to intercept ballistic missiles.