Russia to deliver S-300 missiles by end of 2015

TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (MNA) – Iran’s defense minister said execution stages of the S-300 contract with Russia have been accomplished and majority of the S-300 missile systems will be delivered by the end of 2015. In response to a question on Russian media reports about Russian-Iranian agreement on delivery of S-300 systems, Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan noted, “we have signed the agreement with the Russian side and a large bulk of the systems will be delivered by the end of the current Christian calendar year.” The commander further reported that Iranian troops are receiving relevant trainings in Russia adding “we have purchased S-300 missile systems in accordance with our needs.” Russia had banned the delivery of the S-300 system to Iran in 2010 because the agreement was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions which bans hi-tech weapons sales to the Islamic Republic of Iran; however, In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree paving the way for the delivery of the missile defense system to Iran.