Russia Offers Alternative Missiles to Iran Instead of S-300

A company affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Moscow, seeking to cancel the contract for the sale of the S-300 missile system to Tehran, has now proposed selling more advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran. According to a report by the French news agency on Monday, February 23, citing Sergei Chemezov, the head of the Rostec company, these missiles are of the Antey-2500 type, which is considered an advanced version of the S-300 defense system. Mr. Chemezov stated, 'We have offered them the Antey-2500, but a decision has not yet been made on this matter.' Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, emphasized last year that Tehran is not interested in receiving the Antey-2500 system instead of the S-300. In 2007, Moscow committed to providing Iran with the S-300 missile defense system under an $800 million contract. However, this contract was never executed due to the adoption of a UN resolution in 2010 that prohibited the sale or transfer of missiles and missile systems to Iran, which provoked Iran's protests to the extent that Tehran requested $4 billion in compensation from Moscow. The Russian news agency Interfax reports that Mehdi Sanaei, Iran's ambassador to Russia, recently stated that the Islamic Republic expects the Russians to eventually provide this missile system to Iran in 2015. However, the head of Rostec stated that 'S-300 missiles are no longer being produced,' and for this reason, Russia has offered the Antey-2500 missiles to Iran. The S-300 missile system covers a radius of 150 kilometers and is capable of tracking and targeting aircraft and ballistic missiles at both low and high altitudes. The main critics of the Iran-Russia contract were the United States and Israel, who urged the Kremlin not to provide such advanced weaponry to Tehran. Therefore, the French news agency writes that a potential agreement between Iran and Russia regarding the Antey-2500 missiles could once again provoke a negative reaction from Washington. Recently, the defense ministers of Iran and Russia signed a military-defense agreement emphasizing the resolution of disputes between the two countries regarding the S-300 system.