by Daviv Baron, Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
"As far as Iran is concerned, we offered Antey-2500, instead of S-300. They are thinking. No decision has been made yet," says Russian defense official • Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal expected to arrive in Tehran in coming days to meet Iranian leaders.
An Antey-2500 battery. The
Antey-2500 can engage missiles traveling at 10,100 miles per hour, with a
range of 160 miles
|
Photo credit: AFP  |
Russia has offered Iran its latest Antey-2500
missiles, the head of Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec said on
Monday according to media reports, after a deal to supply less powerful
S-300 missiles was dropped under Western pressure.
Sergei Chemezov said Ihran was now considering the offer, TASS news agency reported.
Russia scrapped a contract to supply Iran with
S-300 surface-to-air missiles under Western pressure in 2010, and Iran
later filed a $4 billion international arbitration suit against Russia
in Geneva, but the two countries remain allies.
The United States and Israel lobbied Russia to
block the missile sale, saying it could be used to shield Iran's
nuclear facilities from possible future air strikes.
There was no immediate response to Chemezov's comments from Iran, Israel or the United States.
"As far as Iran is concerned, we offered
Antey-2500 instead of S-300. They are thinking. No decision has been
made yet," Chemezov was quoted as saying.
The Antey-2500 was developed from the
1980s-generation S-300V system (SA-12A Gladiator and SA-12B Giant). It
can engage missiles traveling at 4,500 meters per second (10,100 miles
per hour), with a range of 250 kilometers (160 miles), according to the
company that makes it, Almaz-Antey.
The S-300 missiles have a 125-mile range and
Russia has stoked tensions with the West by trying to sell them to Syria
and other Middle Eastern countries.
Chemezov told reporters that conflicts in the Middle East have helped boost Russian arm sales, according to TASS.
"I don't conceal it, and everyone understands
this, the more conflicts there are, the more they buy weapons from us.
Volumes are continuing to grow despite sanctions. Mainly, it's Latin
America and the Middle East," he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal is expected to
arrive in Tehran in the coming days to meet Iranian leaders. It will be
his first visit to Iran since the onset of the Syrian civil war, which
led to strained ties between Hamas and Iran over Hamas' support of rebel
groups seeking to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Daviv Baron, Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=23707
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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