Russia Willing to Sell Iran Advanced Air Defense Systems: Report

By Staff, Agencies

Russia is willing to sell Iran advanced S-400 air defense systems, Russian envoy to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan recently said.

Dzhagaryan told the Resalat newspaper Saturday that Moscow "does not have any problem with selling S-400" to Iran.

He further asserted that Russia already sold several batteries of the previous-generation system, S-300, to Iran in 2015; back then, the sale was made after the signing of the nuclear deal, with Russia earlier freezing an accord to sell the system to Iran to stay in line with the international sanctions.

Dzhagaryan stressed that from October 19, when the international embargo on conventional arms trade with Iran had expired, "there will be no problems with arms sales to Iran," and Russia will be open to deals.

Moscow will not be intimidated by the US pressure, he added, while also taking a jab at the three EU countries -- Germany, the UK and France -- that rejected the US push for snapback sanctions on Tehran under the 2015 accord.

“While those countries stood against the US, they still continued to criticize Iran's regional activities,” he said.

Operational since 2007, S-400 is the most advanced air defense in Russia's arsenal. Operational since 2007, it features a range of 400 kilometers and is capable of taking on a broad range of targets.