Iran displayed some parts of the Russian S-300 missile system during a military parade in southern Tehran on Sunday, according to Tasnim, an Iranian news site. Iran reportedly received the first shipment of the antiaircraft missiles from Russia last week.
While the annual military day parade featured command vehicles and maintenance equipment, it did not exhibit missiles, launchers, or radars, which constitute the heart of the system. Either the Russians still have not supplied the Iranians with the principal parts of the system or the Iranians decided not to display them because it does not want its adversaries to know which model of the system it received.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
The issue of the model is critical. Plane and missile interception systems have existed for more than 20 years and old models of it are located in the hands of many European nations. For example, Cyprus and Greece have older systems and any state that wants to attack Iran can coordinate with these states to learn about the system and ways to neutralize it.
Nonetheless, Russia still has not sold the advanced models of the missile system to foreign states. If Iran receives an advanced model, it will be able to surprise anyone who tries to attack them.
Russia sold Iran the S-300 system 10 years ago, but Iran never received it because of US and Israeli pressure on Russia to nix the deal. Russia claimed that a UNSC resolution barring the transfer of weapons prevented it from sending the missile system to Iran, even though Iran paid for the system and sent military personnel to Russia to learn how to use it.
The transfer of the S-300 missile system and other advanced weapons systems will definitely come up in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. Netanyahu has demanded that Russia not supply Iran with the advanced system, which Iran can use to attack Israel and Gulf Arab states.
