S300 Finally in Iran?
(Mobile capture of cargo claimed to be the S300 system. Source: Rishe.ir)
By: Ali Attaran
On April 13, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin made headlines with his order to lift the ban on the sale of S300 missiles to Iran. Putin’s decision to fulfill a long overdue promise to Iran for delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile defense system came in less than two weeks after Iran and six world powers, including Russia, agreed on a general framework for a nuclear deal. The temporal proximity of the two events even raised speculations in Tehran about Moscow’s intention to influence the course of nuclear negotiations in one way or another.
The arms deal, clinched in 2007, had been unilaterally shelved by Russia in 2010 during the presidency of Dmitri Medvedev citing UN sanctions as the reason. Following his decision, Iran, who had paid for the defense system in advance, successfully filed a 4-billion USD lawsuit against Russia in the International Arbitration Court. Tehran also jumpstarted the project to manufacture its own homegrown missile system, meaningfully called Bavar (belief) 373, to show its self-reliance. The system was showcased last year during a national Army Day military parade on April 17, 2015 in Tehran.
Putin’s 2015 order to lift the ban on S300 sales was welcomed by the Iranian media. The Principlist Mashregh News linked Putin’s decision to his anger with NATO’s insistence to deploy its missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, a decision which Moscow believed principally aimed to curb Russia, not Iran, who was at that time already engaged in serious talks aimed to close any likely path towards militarization of its nuclear program.
In Esfand 1394 (mid-March 2016), two weeks after he visited the Russian Defense Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister, stated that he saw no obstacles barring Moscow from delivery of the S300 system to Iran. Velayati, also a diplomatic advisor to the Supreme Leader, reiterated similar remarks this Sunday on TV and assured the audience that delivery of the S300 will happen sooner or later. He also appreciated Russia’s military aid with Iran. “There are European countries that refuse to even give us a single bullet, but Russia is ready to give us Sukhoi 30 fighters,” he said.
On Monday morning, Iranian media published pictures of trucks with undistinguishable cargo, claiming it to be parts of the S300 missile defense system unloaded in the Caspian port of Bandar Anzali. Foreign Ministry Speaker Hossein Jaber Ansari did not confirm the news however, only saying that the first phase of the deal is implemented.