Russia lifted ban on transferring combat systems to Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on the transfer of the C-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran.

The document amends President Medvedev's decree, which prohibited the transfer to Tehran of “any battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, combat helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems, as defined for the purposes of the UN Register of Conventional Arms, S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, or materiel associated with all of the above, including spare parts.”

The words “S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems” were excluded from the text of Medvedev’s decree.

“The decree removes the ban on transit movement through the territory of the Russian Federation (including by air), export from the territory of the Russian Federation to the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as transfer to the Islamic Republic of Iran outside the Russian Federation using ships and aircraft flying the State flag of the Russian Federation C-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, ”the document’s statement says.

In 2007, Russia signed a contract for the supply of five C-300PMU-1 divisions to Iran for about $ 800 million.

UN sanctions

As a result of UN sanctions against Tehran imposed in 2010, the Russian-Iranian contract was suspended. On September 22, 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev signed decree No. 1154, which directly prohibited the supply of “S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems” to Iran.

In Iran and Russia, many opposed the refusal to fulfill the contract, arguing that the anti-aircraft systems are defensive weapons, and their supply is not violated by the UN ban.

The UN sanctions against Iran have not yet been lifted, but on April 2 in London signed a framework agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

The agreement involves reducing the scale of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the gradual lifting of international sanctions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, commenting on Putin’s decree, said that in light of the progress achieved at the negotiations between Tehran and the Six in Lausanne, “the need for this kind of embargo, and a separate, voluntary Russian embargo, has completely disappeared.”

Israel's fears

Meanwhile, Israel believes that the treaty in its current form is a direct threat to the security of the Jewish state.

The country has recently been talking about the possibility of a preventive military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. This is openly declared by high-ranking Israeli politicians and the military.

US President Barack Obama, in turn, expressed support for the position of Israel on this issue. As the US president said in an interview with the New York Times, Iran and all other countries in the region should know that if someone wants to fight with Israel, he will have to deal with America.

Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov believes that there is no danger to Israel of the possible supply of the C-300 air defense system to Iran.

“The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system is purely defensive in nature, it is not adapted for attack purposes and will not jeopardize the security of any state in the region, including, of course, Israel,” Lavrov told reporters on Monday.

Will Iran get a C-300?

As Konstantin Makienko, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said in an interview with the BBC Russian Service, “the signing of this decree does not mean that any contract will be signed immediately.”

“The Iranians may become euphoric about a possible rapprochement with the United States, and they may begin to break us on price and terms. Even then they made unrealistic demands, which is why they delayed the signing of the contract, and as a result fell under Medvedev’s decree,” he said.

As experts have previously noted, the C-300PMU complex, the contract for the supply of which was signed by Iran, is no longer produced in Russia, and it can only be transferred by withdrawal from the Russian armed forces.

Rumors were circulating on the Internet that Iran was interested in supplying a more modern C-400 complex under the contract, but experts say that in any case Russia is not going to export it until it supplies its own troops under the current state program. weapons.

Russia offered Iran to buy Antey-2500 anti-aircraft missile systems instead of the S-300PMU-1.