Iran plans to sign contract for Russian S-300 missiles next week

Israel fears it could help give Iran the ability to fend off possible airstrikes against its nuclear program.

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.

“The text of the contract is ready and our friends will go to Russian Federation next week to sign the contract”, Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

While speaking at a news conference in Tehran, he added that works are under way to prepare infrastructure for the missiles and Iran will receive it shortly, the report says.

“The Russian side is fully obliged to carry out the state of art technological changes on the S-300 air defense system and deliver the modernized missiles to Iran”, Dehqan said, according the Iranian media.

Iran’s Defense Ministry is capable of meeting any possible defense requirement of the country through a completely domestic and wise approach, Dehqan said, adding that the ministry has the ability to counter threats at the shortest time.

President Putin signed a decree in mid-April to lift a ban on the supply of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.

The recent nuclear deal between P5+1 and Iran, made it easier for the two countries to realize the delivery of missiles.

Pieter Wezeman, an arms expert at the Stockholm global 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.

The Iran nuclear agreement has seen dogged opposition from the government of Israel and many Jewish-American groups.

In addition, the new contract will provide for the delivery of four battalions of the air-to-missile system.