Iran says still negotiating purchase of Russia’s S-300 systems

15:57 | 01/ 02/ 2008

TEHRAN, February 1 (RIA Novosti) – A non-official Iranian news agency
quoted a top diplomat as saying on Friday that Iran is still in talks
with Russia on buying advanced S-300 air defense systems, despite an
earlier denial from Moscow.

In December 2007, Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical
Cooperation said that the issue of the delivery of S-300 air defense
missile systems to Iran, raised by the media, was not a subject of
current negotiations and had not been discussed with the Iranians.

"The statement that many considered to be a denial of the negotiations
on S-300 was simply a statement by a Russian official who referred to
the latest round of military cooperation talks in Tehran [in December
2007]," Mehdi Safari said in an interview with the Iranian Students’
News Agency (ISNA).

"However, the sides [Iran and Russia] are continuing work to study the
possibility of delivering these [S-300] systems to Iran," Safari said.

The issue was first raised in December last year when Iranian Defense
Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said that Iran and Russia had agreed
to deliver an unspecified number of advanced S-300 air defense
complexes to the Islamic Republic under a previously signed contract.

The advanced version of the S-300 missile system, called S-300PMU1
(SA-20 Gargoyle), has a range of over 150 kilometers (about 100 miles)
and can intercept ballistic missiles and aircraft at low and high
altitudes, making this system an effective tool for warding off
possible air strikes on Iran.

U.S. authorities have repeatedly called on Russia to stop arms
deliveries to countries whose political regimes Washington disapproves
of, including Iran.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October last year
that Russia would not take into consideration attempts to impose arms
deal restrictions "based on unilateral and politicized assessments". He
said deliveries of Russian weapons were aimed exclusively at increasing
the defense capability of the countries receiving them, and at
maintaining their stability.

Moscow supplied Iran with 29 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems in late
January under a $700-million contract signed in late 2005. Russia has
also trained Iranian Tor-M1 specialists, including radar operators and
crew commanders.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress