INTL S-300 missile deliveries to Iran under review — Russian official

S-300 missile deliveries to Iran under review — Russian official

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091112/156801026.html

RIA Novosti

Uriy Shipilov

11/12/2009

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is still considering the possible deliveries of advance air defense systems to Iran and will not freeze the contract as a concession to the United States, a government official said.

Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of S-300 air defense systems to the Islamic Republic in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports about the start of the contract's implementation since then.

"The issue of S-300 deliveries [to Iran] is still under discussion. There are some technical and other problems," said Konstantin Biryulin, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.

The possible deliveries of S-300 missiles to Iran have aroused serious concern in the West and in Israel.

The official denied media speculations that Russia could freeze the Iranian contract in exchange for Washington's decision not to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a missile tracking radar in the Czech Republic.

"I do not understand why there is so much media frenzy over the deliveries of S-300 to this region...Russia has the right to decide on its own whether to deliver these systems to any country which is not under the UN Security Council's sanctions," Biryulin said.

He also denied the link between recent talks on delivery of S-300 systems to Saudi Arabia and the Iranian contract. Media reports earlier speculated that Russia could sell S-300 to Saudi Arabia instead of Iran to compensate for potential financial losses.

"If Saudi Arabia asks us to deliver S-300s, we will consider the request without linking it to other countries. Russia has never delivered military equipment to a country while hurting the interests of another country," the official said.

The latest version of the S-300 series is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.

It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi urged Russia on Wednesday to fulfill its contract on the supply of S-300 air defense systems to Iran.

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Iran urges Russia to fulfill S-300 missile supply contract

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091111/156796483.html

RIA Novosti

Uriy Shipilov

11/11/2009

TEHRAN, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has to fulfill its contract on the supply of S-300 defensive surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday.

"We have a contract with Russia to buy S-300 missiles. I don't think it is right for Russia to be seen in the world as a country which does not fulfill its contractual obligations," Vahidi was quoted by Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) as saying.

Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of S-300 missiles to the Islamic Republic in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports about the start of the contract's implementation since then.

In December 2008, the Iranian media reported that Russia had started delivering elements of the advanced version of the S-300 missile. However, Russia's Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation has denied such reports.

The latest version of the S-300 series is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.

It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
 
Russia six months late in delivering S-300 missiles to Iran: general

Russia six months late in delivering S-300 missiles to Iran: general

Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN - A senior Iranian military commander has criticized Russia for its failure to deliver a missile defense system known as S-300 to Iran, saying Moscow has delayed the delivery for more than six months.


“We are unhappy with the Russian friends up north,” the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, said on Thursday.

“Why don’t the defensive S-300 missiles get permission to be sent for Iran’s defense purpose as agreed between the two countries?” he asked.

He added, “It has been more than six months that they should have been delivered to Iran by Russia.”

“Don’t the Russian strategists take into consideration Iran’s geopolitical importance?” he asked.

The S-300 system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 km (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.

The truck-mounted S-300PMU1, known in the West as the SA-20, can shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft. It can fire at targets up to 150 km (90 miles) away and travel at more than two km per second.

The head of the Iranian parliament’s foreign policy and national security committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi has also raised fears that Russia would renege on the missile deal, saying that would be a “new chapter in breaking promises by the Russians”.

Firouzabadi also expressed support for the idea of sending nuclear fuel abroad for enrichment.

A draft deal with the major powers, including the U.S, Russia, and other powers calls on Iran to send 75 percent of its uranium abroad to be turned into fuel for a research reactor in Tehran that makes isotopes for cancer treatment.

But Iran has not signed up to the deal as some officials say Tehran might prefer to buy reactor fuel from foreign suppliers.

“We will not be harmed by exchange of (nuclear) fuel. Rather by receiving fuel with 20 percent enrichment as needed by the reactor, some one million people would take advantage of its medical benefits annually,” Firouzabadi explained

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=207836
 
Russia close to completing Iran's nuclear plant

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091117/156876799.html

18:4917/11/2009

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is close to finishing the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant and is currently making final adjustments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Tuesday.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Monday that the launch of the Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran may not take place before the end of this year, as earlier planned.

"We are fully committed to completing this project. Russia has already supplied fuel for the reactor that has been built, and currently start-up and adjustment work is underway. Close attention is being paid to ensuring the safety of the reactor's work," Nesterenko said.
"Upon completion of all necessary operations and tests, the reactor will be launched within the timeframe agreed with the Iranian side," he said.

Nesterenko said that Russian and Iranian specialists have yet to resolve certain technical problems.

He stressed that Russia's work on the project is not affected by the international controversy over Iran's nuclear program.

Russia has frequently delayed the launch of the plant in the Islamic Republic, citing financial or technical problems. Iran is at the center of an international dispute over its nuclear ambitions, amid Western suspicions that the program has military goals, and is subject to UN sanctions.

The $1 billion plant in southern Iran was expected to be launched in 2009.

Nesterenko also said that Moscow is complying with its international commitments in its military and technical cooperation with Iran.

"Russia has for many years been carrying out military and technical cooperation with Iran with the strict observance of its international commitments," Nesterenko said in response to a question about the supply of S-300 surface-to-air missiles.


The spokesman said Russia is supplying only defensive armaments that have no potential to destabilize the situation in the region.

A top Iranian military official last Friday urged Russia to honor its bilateral military contract and deliver the promised S-300 surface-to-air missiles, according to the Mehr news agency.

Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said Russia was six months behind schedule with deliveries of advanced air-defense systems.

Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of S-300 air defense systems to the Islamic Republic in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports on the start of the contract's implementation since then.

The possible deliveries of S-300 missiles to Iran have aroused serious concern in the West and in Israel.

The latest version of the S-300 series is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.

It is considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
 

CRodgers

אני תומך
What's that noise?


Oh never mind, it's only Israel warming up it's fighter jets.

Nothing to see here, move along.
 

CRodgers

אני תומך
Iran rejects UN nuclear proposal

Updated Nov 18, 2009 21:05

Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday ruled out sending enriched uranium out of the country for further processing, effectively rejecting the latest UN plan aimed at preventing Teheran from building nuclear weapons.

The United Nations last month offered a deal to take 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium to reduce its stockpile of material that could be enriched to a higher level, and possibly be used to make nuclear weapons.

"We will definitely not send our 5.3-percent enriched uranium out of the country," Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki told the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

Instead Mottaki said Iran would consider some kind of swap of nuclear fuel inside Iran.
The UN proposal envisioned that Iran send out its own uranium which is enriched at less than 5 percent - enough to produce fuel. Enriching uranium to much higher levels can produce weapons-grade material. In exchange, the UN proposal would have sent back fuel rods that cannot be readily turned into weapons-grade material.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are seeking to persuade Iran to accept an enrichment freeze under a plan that would allow it to export its enriched material in return for rods.

Under that plan, the Iranian uranium would, after further enrichment in Russia, be sent to France where it would be converted into fuel rods. Those rods would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor that produces medical isotopes.

Mottaki said that Iranian experts were looking at the modified proposal to determine what amounts of uranium should be exchanged for fuel rods.
He also dismissed a comment by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Iran had only one choice, the most recent UN plan.

"Diplomacy is not all or nothing. Mrs. Clinton's comments that Iran must accept only this proposal is not diplomatic."

Also on Wednesday, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi announced that his country's petrochemical plants would be capable of producing 14 million liters of gasoline daily in the event of fuel sanctions, according to a Press TV report.

Gasoline production in such plants is costly compared to the imported gasoline on which a percentage of Iran's domestic consumption currently relies, the oil minister was quoted as saying.

US President Obama warned this week that Iran is running out of time to come to resolution with the West.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258566460715&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
 

Reborn

Seeking Aslan's Country
Iran's Top General Raps Russia Over S-300
TEHRAN (FNA)- A top Iranian commander has criticized Russia for its procrastination over delivery to Iran of the sophisticated anti-aircraft system known as S-300.

11/13/09 Chief of Staff of Iran's Joint Armed Forces Hassan Firouzabadi said Tehran was upset about Moscow's failure to supply Iran with the S-300 surface-to-air missile system. Firouzabadi, who is also a member of the Supreme National Security Council, warned that Moscow's hesitance to deliver the system to Tehran could harm their security as Russia's security was tied to Iran's. "Don't Russian strategists realize Iran's geopolitical importance to their security?" the top commander asked, press tv reported. Firouzabadi questioned Moscow's motivation for the delay, adding that under a contract signed between the two countries, the Russian government was expected to supply Iran with the system aimed at boosting the country's defensive capabilities. "The delivery is more than six months overdue," the top general said, urging Russia to expedite the process of delivery. Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday that Russia had a 'contractual obligation' to provide Iran with the system. "We have made a deal with the Kremlin to buy S-300 defense missiles," he said, referring to a contract signed between Tehran and Moscow in 2007. "We don't think Russian officials would want to be seen in the world as contract violators," he added. According to Western experts, the S-300 missile defense system would shield Iranian nuclear sites against any Israeli airstrike.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8808220783
 

Reborn

Seeking Aslan's Country
Russia delays Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station
Reuters
Published: 11.16.09, 10:51 / Israel News
Russia on Monday said it would not start a nuclear reactor at Iran's Bushehr atomic power station by the end of the year as planned, citing technical reasons. "The launch will not happen by the end of the year," Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told reporters. "The engineers have to reach their findings."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3805768,00.html
 

Reborn

Seeking Aslan's Country
US: Iranian FM's response to nuke deal not seen as official
Published: 11.18.09, 22:42 / Israel News
The US said it does not consider Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki statement according to which his country would not export its enriched uranium for further processing as Tehran's official response to the UN plan aimed at preventing Iran from potentially building nuclear weapons. "What was said today doesn't inspire our confidence" that Iran will accept the proposal that was tentatively agreed to in Geneva," State Department spokesman Ian C. Kelly said. (AP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3807449,00.html
 
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