Monday, March 2, 2009

NOVOSTI: Iran (Not officially acknowledged) recipient of S300-PM!

The S-300P surface-to-air missile system (eng3)

1 comment:

BB said...

Most news reports don't focus on the type of S-300 that the Iranians may or may not have purchased. The amount of disinformation is staggering.

BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
February 24, 2009 Tuesday
Russian official says boosting military cooperation with Iran to continue
A senior official in the Russian military industry complex asserted to "Al-Hayat" yesterday that Moscow would continue to boost its military cooperation with Tehran and expressed surprise at the "fabricated uproar" over the issue of selling the sophisticated "S-300" missiles to Iran, saying no international embargo has been imposed on supplying it with sophisticated defence systems.
Talking to "Al-Hayat" during his participation in the international defence fair "IDEX 2009" in Abu Dhabi, Nikolai Dimidyuk, the vice president of "Rosobornexport" which is in charge of Russian military exports, said his country "does not see any obstacle to boosting cooperation with Iran in the military field" and added that "there are no international restrictions on exporting defensive weapons and equipment to this country." He also stressed that Russia "is working with the Iranians in accordance with the international criteria and agreements." He expressed surprise at the "uproar" over the Russian agreements with Tehran to supply it with modern defensive systems. He was referring to the signed contract to sell the Iranians sophisticated "S-300" missiles systems which has not been implemented yet though two years have passed since it was signed. Tel Aviv and Washington opposed strongly delivering these missiles to Iran and considered them a threat to security in the region.

BBC Monitoring Trans Caucasus Unit
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
February 20, 2009 Friday
Iran defence minister says Moscow trip was success
Excerpt from report in English by Iranian news channel Press TV website on 20 February
Iran's defence minister says he achieved the objectives of his official visit to Russia amid reports that Tehran sought the S-300 system.
In an interview with Russia Al Youm in Moscow, Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow is directed at further regional stabilization.

Associated Press Worldstream
February 20, 2009 Friday 3:58 PM GMT
Iran hails military ties with Russia
Iran's defense minister said Friday he hopes to obtain new weapons from Russia to upgrade the nation's arsenals. ...
Russian officials have rejected claims that they have provided Iran with more powerful, long-range S-300 air defense missile systems.

Thai Press Reports (HA)
February 19, 2009 Thursday
RUSSIA/IRAN 'RUSSIA FREEZES SALE OF S-300 TO IRAN'
Russia has frozen the sale of the state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday. Mohammad Najjar was reportedly informed of the decision by his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov on his visit to Moscow on Wednesday.
Russia said the delivery of the systems would be delayed at least until the upcoming meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. Kommersant cited Russia's wish to prevent hindering dialogue with the new US administration.
Military diplomatic sources were quoted by Kommersant as saying that the issue had been the focus of Najjar's visit. Israel Radio quoted Moscow sources as saying that apart form the gesture to the Americans, Russia also wanted to avoid ruining a $100 million drone purchase from Israel. (this I actually find plausible)