Israel fears it could help give Iran the ability to fend off possible airstrikes against its nuclear program.
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“The Russian side is fully obliged to carry out the state of art technological changes on the S-300 air defense system and deliver the modernized missiles to Iran”, Dehqan said, according the Iranian media.
“Before, we had asked for three batteries of the S-300 missile and now one more has been added”, Mehr News Agency quoted the Iranian minister as saying August 18.
Pieter Wezeman of the Stockholm worldwide Peace Research Institute told Reuters that the new missile defense batteries will allow Iran to protect its sensitive assets throughout the country. “This system will be a challenge for an air force to overcome”.
“With four battalions, they should be able to deploy missile systems in four different locations”, he said. Military analysts say this is an effort by Iran to upgrade its aging fleet of mostly U.S.-made fighters with very few spare parts and no upgrades.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said Russian Federation has agreed to develop cooperation with Iran in the “joint designing and manufacturing” of aircraft after learning about the Islamic Republic’s capabilities.
However, the deal is now almost unanimously opposed by Republicans and by a number of prominent Democrats, including the Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York. He reassured Israel that the S-300 does not endanger the Jewish state.
The U.S. Congress will vote on a resolution disapproving of the agreement in September. If Obama’s veto is sustained, the White House can go ahead and implement the agreement without the support of congress.
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The S-300 would make a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities much more hard.
