Iranian defense minister says Tehran will get Russia’s S-300 missile systems this year

Iran is due to receive Russia’s S-300 air defense missile systems already this year, the country’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan told reporters on Wednesday ahead of flying to Moscow.
"During the visit to Moscow, I will sign a contract according to which Russia will supply these missile systems to Iran," the minister was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing S-300 deliveries to Iran on April 13. The document came into force on the day it was signed.
Under the 2007 contract, Moscow was to deliver to Tehran five divisions of the missile systems of medium range worth over $800 million.
The Iranian side paid $166.8 million in advance. However, until mid-2010 the systems were not supplied to Iran.
In September 2010, then-President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on measures on implementing the UN Security Council’s resolution 1929 that in particular banned the S-300 supplies to Iran.
The contract was canceled and the advance payment was sent back to the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s defense minister is arriving in Moscow on a three-day visit on Wednesday at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu. The talks will focus on the issues of S-300 deliveries to Iran.
Dehghan is also due to attend the 4th international security conference in Moscow on April 16-17 organized by the Russian Defense Ministry. The Iranian defense chief is expected to make a speech at the event and hold a number of bilateral meetings with the Russian and foreign participants of the forum.

 rbth