“We had already announced that despite several changes in the time of delivery, the deal is on its path of implementation and today I should announce that the first part of this equipment has arrived in Iran and delivery of other parts will continue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari said during his weekly news conference in Tehran Monday.
He said the delivery came through the Caspian Sea, which both Iran and Russia border.
Russia’s sale of S-300 missiles to Iran has a bumpy history. The deal was first signed in 2007, but was suspended by Russia under pressure from the West and US. Moscow said the delivery would destabilize regional security at a time when Tehran was accused of having nuclear weapons program.
The contract was revived last year after Iran and six leading world powers signed a nuclear deal, which addressed concerns over a potential nuclear breakout by Tehran.
The S-300 system now being delivered by Russia is the result of a new deal signed with Iran in November, and is an upgraded version of the one that Tehran initially purchased. The delivery is expected to be complete by mid-2016, RT reported.
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