Russia and Iran sign S-300 missile system contract

Russia and Iran have signed a contract on supplying Russian S-300 missile systems to Tehran, the head of 'Rostec', Sergey Chemezov, said on the sidelines of the international aerospace Dubai Airshow-2015.

"The contract on the S-300, the air defense system, has already been signed," Gazeta.ru cited him as saying.

Chemezov added that after the implementation of the first part of this agreement, Iran will abandon its complaints against Moscow in connection with the breakdown of deliveries of air defense missile systems in connection with the introduction of international sanctions against Tehran.

The editor-in-chief of 'Military-Industrial Courier' and the magazine 'Aerospace Defense', Michael Khodarenok, told a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza about the history of this agreement. "In the beginning there was an agreement on the supply. Then due to the sanctions, this cooperation has been suspended. Iran has filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit will be withdrawn only when the contract for the supply ends. The story has lasted for a very long time and has a very peculiar content," he said.

According to the expert, it will be important for the further development of bilateral relations. "Firstly, there is a deepening of the military-technical cooperation between the two countries. Secondly, Iran is a solvent country, with cash to pay for weapons," Khodarenok noted.

"As a rule, S-300 are being delivered as regimental sets. The regimental set is one command center of the system and three anti-aircraft missile divisions. Accordingly, one regimental set is not enough to solve all the problems in defense of Iran. So, in the future, when the story ends, the following contracts will be signed. Iran will strengthen its air defense, its anti-missile defense. And for us, this is real money," the editor-in-chief of 'Military-Industrial Courier' summed up.

The director of the Social and Political Research Center, the head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Vladimir Yevseyev, in his turn, said that there will be supply of the Antey-2500. "It's a missile and counter-air defence system. This system has drawbacks, for example it is more expensive than S-300 PMU-1, but it has better opportunities to intercept ballistic missile targets. It has a shorter intercept range to intercept aircraft ballistic targets, but it has a higher interception rate. It is very important that it will withdraw the case in the Geneva arbitration court," he said.

"I think that Iran will become stronger, because it hasn't got similar systems. In addition, the S-400 anti-aircraft system can be supplied in perspective, in any case, the point is that Iran will finally have a modern air defense system. It is good for the Arabian monarchies and for Israel, because it will began to hesitate about the use of force against Iran," the expert added.

In his opinion, the conclusion of this contract, "shows the restoration of confidence, which has been largely lost because of the signing of the Gore-Chernomyrdin agreement in the mid-1990s." "When the restrictions on the supply of weapons are removed, other systems will be delivered, but it is already possible to train pilots, to deploy systems of maintenance of aviation equipment. The sanctions formally do not prevent the supply of these systems, so Russia has the right to supply," Yevseyev noted.

In the future it will contribute to the further development of military-technical cooperation between the two countries. "There are restrictions in connection with the UN Security Council resolutions. The resolution came into force in October, respectively, the restrictions on supplies of heavy weapons will be lifted in five years. By that time, Russia may begin the full supply of weapons. And now it is able to supply various kinds of missiles, such as air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles," the head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States concluded.