Russia to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran
Russia announced that the first S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems will be delivered to Iran in August or September of this year. This statement was made y Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec Corporation amid reports of problems in the implementation of the agreement. The Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing an unnamed Russian official, had written on March 9th that there were problems with payments.
According to the report, the contract signed last fall assumes that Iran will pay one billion dollars in several installments. The first deliveries were already expected in February. Before they could be delivered, the Kuwaiti newspaper, Al Jazeera reported that, according to high-ranking sources, Russia decided to halt delivery of the weapons. Kommersant reported that the Kremlin and Rosoboronexport refused to comment on Al Jazeera’s report.
Last November, Russia and Iran signed the deal to provide the latter with said anti-aircraft missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin had lifted the embargo on Iran in April of 2015. He credited the substantial progress in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program. Russia's embargo was introduced in September 2010 as part of the decree on the implementation of UN Security Council resolution on limiting Iran's supply of offensive weapons.
Israel and the United States fear that the missile systems could be used by Iran to protect nuclear facilities from air strikes.