Iran Paying Money, Taking Delivery of S-300: Russia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Wednesday announced that the S-300 contract with Iran is now in effect and that Tehran has started paying for its order for the air defense missile systems.
“This contract is being completed and is being paid for. The delivery is underway and there will be other contracts after this one,” Rogozin said during an interview on Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel, Ria Novosti reported.
Back on December 15, Vladimir Kozhin, President Vladimir Putin’s aide on military-technical cooperation, had said Moscow was determined to fulfill all its obligations in regard to timely delivery of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran.
“Iran is fulfilling its obligations on advanced payments, while we are fulfilling our obligations on timely deliveries,” Kozhin said.
The official added that the deliveries would take time and will most likely continue through 2016.
Under the previous contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 defense system batteries.
But the contract worth more than $800 million was revoked after then-President Dmitry Medvedev banned the supply of those systems to Tehran in 2010.
Later, Iran lodged a $4 billion lawsuit at an international court in Geneva against Russia’s arms export agency.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided in April to lift the ban on the S-300 missile system delivery to Iran.
