Why has the delivery of the S-300 system been halted again?

Hosseini Dehghan, who traveled to Moscow with a long list of military purchases and was supposed to attend the ceremony for the delivery of S-300 system components from Astrakhan port in the northwestern Caspian Sea to Iran after meeting with Putin and discussing with his Russian counterpart, General Sergei Shoigu, directly headed to Tehran after an unexpected statement from the Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson about the indefinite halt of the mentioned equipment delivery due to financial reasons. The halt of the transfer of four missile defense systems known as S-300, valued at about one billion dollars, and the empty-handed return of Ahmad Dehghan, the Iranian Minister of Defense, from Russia, has stronger reasons than the non-payment of the remaining cost of the missiles. Earlier, Iranian (Fars News Agency) and Russian (RIA Novosti) news sources reported that S-300 components would be shipped to Iran from Astrakhan, and Dehghan would attend the related ceremony, but on February 18, TASS reported, 'The Russian Defense Ministry does not confirm Dehghan's trip to Astrakhan port and the readiness to send S-300 components to Iran due to the incomplete financial commitments from Iran.' At the same time, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated in a statement released by TASS, 'Various aspects of military purchases were discussed during Putin's meeting with Dehghan, but Russia will not hurry to send the S-300 to Iran.' He also emphasized, 'As long as the issue of financial payments remains unresolved, setting a date for the delivery of S-300 to Iran is an immature action.' Thus, the delivery of S-300 missiles to Iran, which had been halted due to Israeli and American objections from 2007 until the signing of the Lausanne nuclear agreement last year, will again be suspended for an indefinite period despite Putin's announcement of lifting the sales ban on the system. Moreover, with the suspension of the S-300 missile system delivery, the fate of other military purchases by the Islamic Republic from Russia will also remain ambiguous until further notice. Iran's military purchase list apparently lacks cash, and the Islamic Republic wishes to make its military purchases from Russia up to 8 billion dollars with long-term credit and guarantees from the Russian government, gradually paying the installments. In the recent signing of agreements for the purchase of 27 billion dollars of civilian aircraft (Airbus from France and ATR-72 from Italy and France), Iran also adopted a non-cash purchase method with guaranteed installment payments to the selling institutions. A few years ago, at the peak of high oil prices, Russia provided credit for military purchases to Venezuela, but due to falling oil prices and Russia's heavy budget deficit, providing similar financial credit to the Islamic Republic now seems very difficult, while the obstacles of sanctions and regional objections to selling advanced military weapons to Iran remain. According to reports from Russian sources, the military purchase list that Hossein Dehghan brought to Moscow included Su-30MKA fighter jets and Yak-130 training jets. The Su-30 aircraft are from the Su-27 family and are relatively new, which the Russians have used in Syria, and previously several of them have been delivered to China, Indonesia, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The price of each of these aircraft types is estimated between 37 to 45 million dollars. The low price of Yak-130 training jets (15 million dollars each) compared to the average price of fighter jets (100 million dollars) is among the incentives for Iran to purchase this type of aircraft from Russia. The price of each heavy transport helicopter known as Kazan Mi-17 (made in the Republic of Tatarstan) that is on Hassan Dehghan's purchase list is estimated between 15 to 18 million dollars. India ordered 48 of these helicopters from Russia last year. Another item on Iran's military purchase list is the supersonic cruise missiles known as Yakhont (Ruby in Persian) anti-ship missiles with a range of 300 kilometers, which can be installed on the shore or on vessels. The Russians sold two sets of this type, each containing 36 missiles worth 300 million dollars, to Syria in 2011. In addition to the advanced S-400 missile system, Iran is interested in purchasing Russian T-90 tanks, several kilo-class submarines (one thousand tons), and fast corvettes from Russia. The T-90 tank is the most advanced tank made in Russia and an improved model of the T-72 tank, with the price of each estimated at up to 22 million dollars. If this purchase is finalized, at least 350 of these tanks, worth approximately 1.5 billion dollars, could be provided to Iran, which could be the heaviest item on Iran's military purchase list from Russia. The Su-30 aircraft have French-made airborne navigation systems and Israeli-made equipment and parts, and the corvettes requested by Iran (similar to those purchased by India) have Israeli-made anti-ship missiles, and it is unclear whether the mentioned countries will be willing to sell this equipment to Iran. Regarding the S-300 missile system, Iran has previously paid about 700 million dollars to Russia and due to not receiving the mentioned system, during Ahmadinejad's administration, a 4 billion dollar legal dispute against Russia was raised. If Russia, regarding Iran's financial debt concerning the S-300 missiles, which even without considering the claim for 4 billion dollars in damages or Iran's advance interest could only be about one hundred million dollars or slightly more, once again refrains from delivery, the issue of the non-cash 8 billion dollar military goods purchase request from that country should be completely dismissed! According to UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which was unanimously adopted on July 20, 2015, the export of heavy weapons and missile equipment to Iran is subject to 4 to 8 years of sanctions, and after that, receiving any type of weapon must be addressed case by case in the Security Council and with prior permission. There is no sign that Iran and Russia have requested permission from the Security Council for the 8 billion dollar arms deal. If the deal is carried out without obtaining permission, it would violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and could lead to the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran. Furthermore, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and a signatory to Resolution 2231, and a violation of the resolution by a permanent member severely undermines the credibility of the council and its permanent members. Saudi Arabia's objections The S-300 missile system is indeed a defensive system that can target attacking missiles and aircraft. The S-400 system, which has the capability to target more fixed and moving targets and has about 50 kilometers more range than the S-300 system, can destroy fixed targets up to 200 kilometers away. Iran ordered the S-300 system at a time when it was seeking to develop its nuclear program and feared an airstrike by Israel or the US against its nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, and Tehran. This system was specifically intended to defend the mentioned facilities, whereas with the shutdown of these facilities, there is neither a threat of airstrikes from the US or Israel nor a need to defend the closed facilities. Thus, the location of the systems could change with Iran's shifting defense priorities. Currently, Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia are hostile, and besides indirect confrontation in Yemen, the risk of direct clashes between the two countries' forces in Syria and also in the shared areas of the Persian Gulf is entirely conceivable. If the S-300 missile system is installed on Farsi Island (the closest border point of Iran to Saudi Arabia) or Khark Island, targeting points within Saudi territory would be entirely possible. If this system is installed in Bandar Abbas or Abu Musa Island, targeting large oil tankers, US military ships, and southern Gulf facilities would be possible. Thus, Saudi Arabia (and other countries) can directly protest to Moscow and insist on not delivering the S-300 system or refraining from selling the S-400 to Iran, and demand that if the mentioned missile systems are delivered, their installation location be placed much farther from the waters of the Persian Gulf; a condition that would practically nullify the justifiable use of these systems. Such a precondition has never been set for any previous sales of the S-300 system to any other purchasing country, and accepting such an exception by the Islamic Republic could practically be considered a violation of its defensive independence and contrary to Iran's national sovereignty considerations. The day after the announcement of the renewed suspension of the S-300 delivery to Iran, official sources from Saudi Arabia and Russia reported on a phone conversation the day before between Putin and the King of Saudi Arabia, the apparent excuse for which was the exchange of friendly messages on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the beginning of political relations between the two countries. According to the related official statement, during the mentioned phone conversation, while expressing hope for finding a solution to the Syrian crisis, 'other security issues in the Middle East' were also discussed, and Putin officially invited King Salman to visit Russia.