Iranian DM:

No Need to Russian S-400 Missile Defense Shield

Rasa - Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan underlined that the Russian S-300 missile defense system is enough to defend the country against high-altitude threats, and said Tehran doesn’t intend to purchase the S-400 shield.

News ID: 422935

Date: 25 August 2016 - 16:28

RNA - "We produce (defense) systems at three levels to provide the needs of the country's air defense and security and we had some deficiencies in (defending the country against the) high altitude (threats) which were removed by purchasing the S-300," General Dehqan said in a press conference in the Central city of Isfahan on Thursday.

Asked if Iran seeks to buy the S-400 missile defense system from Russia too, he said, "We don’t need to buy another system anymore and we can meet our needs by production (of home-made defense systems)".

Iran on Sunday unveiled the home-made version of the sophisticated Russian S-300 missile defense system, dubbed as Bavar (Belief) 373.

The two indigenized strategic products were unveiled in a ceremony in Tehran participated by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran designed and developed its own version of the S-300 missile shield after the Russians shrugged off delivery of their advanced missile defense system to Iran on the pretext of the UN Security Council sanctions.

The Iranian version has superior features over the original Russian model as it enjoys increased mobility, agility and reduced launch-preparation time.

Iranian commanders had earlier said that Bavar 373 is similar to its original Russian model and traces and intercepts high-altitude targets.

After the removal of sanctions, Russia delivered half of S-300 air defense systems to Iran under the existing contract.

Head of Russia's Rostec corporation, Sergei Chemezov, said in July that Russia was planning to complete the deliveries of the S-300 air defense systems to Iran by the end of 2016.

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