Iran to Russia: Where are those missiles you promised us?
Following Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s trip to Moscow, Iranian media has been abuzz with talk about the long-awaited delivery of a long-rang S-300 missile defense system, which is still being held up by Russia.
The trip by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Moscow to meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov was front-page news in a number of Iranian newspapers. Many analysts and writers expect Iran and Russia’s economic and military ties to deepen following the nuclear deal.
One of the hottest topics of discussion following Zarif’s trip was the long-awaited delivery of the long-range S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system, which is designed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles. Iran has already paid for the missiles, but Russia has held up the delivery over pressure from Western countries over sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program.
After speculation erupted in the media, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan spoke to reporters about the delivery of the missiles Aug. 18. He said the UN Security Council “used resolutions as an excuse but this could not be an obstacle for the S-300 delivery to Iran.” Earlier, an Iranian source had told the Russian website Sputnik that the missiles would be delivered to Iran 30 to 40 days after the signing of the comprehensive nuclear deal.
Dehghan continued, “All the changes from these last years on the S-300 will be applied and we will receive an up-to-date system,” adding, “The text of the contract is ready and it is planned that next week [Iranian officials] will travel to Russia to sign the contract.”
