The head of Russia’s Rostec conglomerate, Sergei Chemezov, said on Monday Moscow has offered Iran its latest Antey-2500 anti-aircraft missiles instead of S-300 surface-to-air missiles, and Tehran is weighing the decision, TASS news agency reported.
“As far as Iran is concerned, we offered Antey-2500 instead of S-300. They are thinking, no decision has been made yet,” Chemezov was quoted as saying. Moscow and Tehran signed an $800 million deal in late 2007 on the purchase of S-300 missile systems, but three years later Russia decided not to ship the air defense systems to Iran under the pretext that it was covered by the fourth round of the United Nations Security Council sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. In 2013, Russians announced that Iran-bound S-300 anti-aircraft systems were dismantled and recycled.
Following Moscow’s failure to deliver the systems, Iran filed a complaint against the Russian arms firm Rosoboronexport with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva.
After a meeting between Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Tehran on January 20, Iranian and Russian media reported that Moscow may deliver the S-300 system to Iran. Fars news agency said the two countries would resolve problems with the delivery of the advanced missile system, while Russia’s RIA state news confirmed the issue was once again under discussion.
“A step was taken in the direction of cooperation on the economy and arms technology, at least for such defensive systems such as the S-300 and S-400. Probably we will deliver them,” RIA quoted Colonel General Leonid Ivashov as saying.
