Russia To Sell 29 Air Defense Systems To Iran

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia To Sell 29 Air Defense Systems To Iran

The 700-million-dollar transaction is said to become Russia's largest deal since 2000

Russia intends to sell 29 Tor M-1 anti-missile systems capable of downing cruise missiles and air bombs to Iran, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote with reference to an anonymous manager of a defense enterprise. According to the newspaper, the contract on the matter has already been signed.

Tor is a solely defensive weapon, which intercepts cruise missiles. Journalists contacted the management of the Kupol (Dome) enterprise, which manufactures Tor anti-missile systems, although they failed to obtain a confirmation of the above-mentioned transaction.

A source from the air defense industry said that it goes about the sale of 29 Tor M-1 anti-missile complexes on the base of the Greek order. Greece purchased 21 systems and was intended to acquire 29 more. The country turned the order down at the end of the nineties. Experts evaluate the Iranian contact in the sum of $700 million.

Mikhail Barabanov, an editor with Export of Arms magazine, said that the contract to sell 29 Tor M-1 air defense systems to Iran became the largest transaction in Russia since 2000. In 2000, Russia pulled out from the secret agreement with the USA about restricted arms deliveries to Iran. The document was known as the Gore-Chernomyrdin Protocol. Moscow undertook not to strike any defense deals with Iran. In return, the USA promised to help Russia enter the international market of defense technologies. The promise was not kept, though. "When Russia pulled out from the secret agreement with the USA, we expected Iran to become Russia's largest importer after China and India. However, the weapons, which Iran purchased from Russia during the following five years, were evaluated in the sum of $300-400 million. To all appearance, the Iranian administration thought that Russia would not be able to run US-independent defense policy after the story with the Gore-Chernomyrdin Protocol," Mikhail Barabanov said.

"The transaction is not supposed to raise concerns with the US administration. Tor systems are tactical weapons. The deal should therefore be perceived as a commercial operation first and foremost," Vagif Guseinov, the Director of the Institute of Strategic Estimations and Analysis said. Iran needs to defend the atomic power plant in Bushehr, which is currently being built with Russia's participation. Israel may strike a preventive blow on Iran's nuclear object in Bushehr: Israeli officials have confirmed such a possibility on several occasions.

The history of Russia's military presence in Iran.

The Russian army successfully completed a military operation 90 years ago, which was included in WWI history as the Hamadan Operation. Iran used to be a semicolony of Russia and England back then. The two countries controlled Iranian oil industry, railways, the banking sphere, as well as communications and fishery. The city of Khamadan used to be the stronghold of the Russian colony in Iran. The leaders of the Iranian clergy were trying to attract Germany's attention to Iran, hoping to win this European country as the third force in the fight with Russians and English. The intrigues put Iran on the verge of the civil war; a pro-German party could come to power in the country.

The USSR deployed its troops in Iran soon after the start of WWII. The Soviet administration was supposedly trying to obtain the only land route for USSR's allies. Three Soviet armies entered Iran on 25 August 1941 at the time, when the USSR was defending itself from Nazi Germany's fierce attacks. There was no significant resistance shown against the Soviet troops, which let them occupy Tehran easily. When the USSR launched the war with Afghanistan, the Iranian clerical regime became a staunch ally of Afghan Mujahideens.

[Ryan Ruck]

Israel Slams Russia For Selling Anti-Missile System To Iran

Israel on Sunday lambasted Russia over the sale of anti-missile systems to arch-enemy Iran, the latest round of what the local press has dubbed the "Iranian-Israeli arms race." Iran, already under intense international pressure over its nuclear activities, has reportedly bought 29 mobile air defense systems from Moscow in a deal worth more than $700 million.

Defending the Russian deal, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said: "Is this a problem? Do we need permission?"

"We have contracts with other countries to buy or sell arms. This is not the first time we have signed a contract with the Russians. We have done so in the past with Russia and other countries like China," he told AFP in an interview.

Reacting to the arms deal, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokes-man Marc Regev said: "When a country sells arms to Iran, it strengthens the military strength of the state and serves only the interests of the most negative elements in the region."

The contract with Russia coincided with an Israeli announcement it had successfully test fired an Arrow defense missile against a mock Shahab missile. Iran has been constantly upgrading the Shahab-3 missile, a single-stage device that is believed to be based on a North Korean design and have a range of at least 2,000 kilometers - meaning that arch-enemy Israel and U.S. bases in the region are well within range.

"For the first time we have verified the Arrow's capabilities against the Iranian Shahab and this test has allowed us to demonstrate that we have the means to counter Iranian threats," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday.

The latest test of the Arrow, or Hetz in Hebrew - which is not yet operational - followed a pledge by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel would never allow Iran to come into possession of nuclear weapons.

The Shahab-3, which means "Meteor" or "Shooting Start" in Farsi, was once described by Israel's Mossad spy agency as the greatest threat to the Jewish state's existence since its creation in 1948.

First launched in 1988 during the now-defunct Star Wars strategy under former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, the U.S.-inspired Arrow program was stepped up after Israel was hit by 39 Iraqi Scud missiles that left two people dead during the 1991 Gulf war. Development of the Arrow is half-funded by the United States.

Its army chief Dan Halutz predicted Sunday diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions would fail but suggested a military strike was not yet on the cards.

"The Iranians are determined to get a nuclear capability. From Israel's viewpoint such a situation is unacceptable ... We should be prepared for the worst scenario," he said.

Asked how far Israel was ready to go to stop Iran's nuclear project, Halutz quipped, "2,000 kilometers."

Mofaz said the United Nations should step in. "This is a hot potato which should be placed on the table of the Security Council."

Russia's news agency ITAR-TASS on Friday quoted an unidentified top Russian Defense Ministry official as saying the deal involved 29 Tor M-1 mobile systems capable of bringing down both aircraft and missiles.

Larijani said with a smile that Iran's air defenses "do not have many weaknesses," but went on to dismiss fears that his country was also seeking to equip itself with long-range ballistic missiles.

"We always announce the range of missiles we test. There is nothing secret," he said.

Israeli newspapers noted the weapons build-up with some alarm, with respected military commentator Alex Fishman calling the arms race a "cancerous illness" in a column in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

"The Iranians do not yet have nuclear weapons, but we are already at the early stage of the game: we are running an arms race against them for defensive weapons, trying to understand where they're headed and to run a few steps ahead," he wrote.

"The race will go on unless some sort of miracle happens to stop this lunacy, which sucks billions of dollars from each side."

[Ryan Ruck]

Iran Buying SA-15/Tor M-1 SAM Systems from Russia

Novosti in Russia and western media outlets like Reuters are reporting that Russia will sell about 30 Tor M-1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) surface-to-air missile systems. Greece had bought 21 of the systems and had the right to another 29, but scrapped the deal in the late 1990s. Those missiles will now find their way to Iran, where they will be emplaced between 2006-2008 around the Bushehr nuclear power plant. That reactor is due to be completed by Russia in 2007, and is widely seen as a component of Iran's atomic bomb program.

The SA-15 can reportedly identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of 20 to 6,000 meters (60-20,000 feet). It is capable of engaging aircraft, helicopters, UAV, precision-guided weapons and various types of guided missiles. Interfax news agency separately quoted a source as saying the deal, which would also include modernising Iran's air force and supplying some patrol boats, was worth more than $1 billion, including $700 million or so for the SA-15s.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia To Fulfill TOR-M1 Missile Contract With Iran

Russia will supply TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran, Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service Director Mikhail Dmitriyev told a Thursday press conference in Moscow.

"As you know, we have a contract on the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran. There is no reason not to fulfill this contract," he said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia Implementing Arms Contract With Iran: Official

Russia is going ahead with a contract to deliver sophisticated air defense systems to Iran, a Russian Defense Ministry official said Nov. 17, despite appeals from Washington to reconsider.

“The contract with Iran is being implemented. Everything is going well. We will honor the terms fully,” said Mikhail Dmitrev, head of the federal service for military-technical cooperation, ITAR-TASS reported.

“There is no reason to review this contract,” Dmitrev said.

At the end of 2005, Russian media reported that Iran signed a contract with Moscow for the purchase of 29 Tor-M1 air defense systems for $700 million.

The United States called on Russia in May to scrap the contract.

In August, Washington announced sanctions against Russian jet-maker Sukhoi and state arms exporter Rosoboronexport for providing Iran with equipment that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction.

[Ryan Ruck]

First Tor-M1 Air Defense Systems Delivered To Iran

Russia has begun delivering Tor M1 air defense systems to Iran within the framework of an earlier signed agreement, a source in Russia's military and intestinal complex told Interfax-AVN on Friday.

"The deliveries of Tor M1 to Iran have begun. The first systems have been delivered to Iran," the source said, adding that the Iranian soldiers who will operate the systems were trained in Russia.

Rosoboronexport did not comment to Interfax-AVN on the report on the deliveries. "We do not comment on the information," a representatives of the press service of the company said.

"Earlier Russian officials stated that Iran is a sovereign state, a member of the UN and League of Arab States, and no international sanctions prohibiting it from receiving defensive arms have been imposed," he said.