Iran Hopes Implementation of S-300 Deal to Be Completed by Year-End

The implementation of the Russia-Iran agreement on the delivery of S-300 air defense systems goes according to plan, and Tehran hopes that all systems will be delivered by the end of the year, the country's Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On April 11, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia had made the first contracted delivery of the S-300 systems as scheduled.

"The deal is being implemented as planned. We expect to receive the remaining systems and hope for the deal to be fully implemented by the end of the year," ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said.

In 2007, Moscow and Tehran signed a $900-million deal for the delivery of five S-300 missile systems to Iran. In 2010, Russia suspended the contract, citing a UN Security Council resolution that placed an arms embargo on Tehran until it proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear project. Tehran filed a lawsuit against Moscow over the incident in the International Court of Arbitration.

In 2015, Moscow annulled the S-300 delivery ban, after Iran and six world powers, including Russia, reached a framework nuclear deal to lift the anti-Tehran sanctions in exchange for guarantees of the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.

The S-300-P surface-to-air missile system

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