Russia may sell S-400 to Iran after UN embargo expires, ambassador says

[HAIDER]

Oct 5, 2020
Russia’s ambassador to Iran said Saturday that the Kremlin may sell its S-400 missile defense system to Tehran after the UN arms embargo expires later this month.
“We have provided Iran with the S-300. Russia does not have any problem to deliver the S-400 to Iran, and it did not have any problem before, either,” Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan told Tehran-based Risalat newspaper, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
“We have said since the very first day that there will be no problem for selling weapons to Iran from Oct. 19,” Dzhagaryan said, adding that Russia is not concerned with US threats.
Why It Matters: The seriousness of Dzhagaryan’s suggestion remains unclear. The Kremlin has floated the proposal before, though no formal request by Iran has been publicized.
But if Iran were to obtain the S-400, it would be a slap in the face to the Donald Trump administration and is unlikely to be taken kindly by Israel.

Russia already delivered its S-300 missile defense system to Iran in 2016 after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during the Barack Obama US presidential administration.
The Trump administration failed to convince even its major European allies Germany, Britain and France to support the renewal of the yearslong arms embargo.
The S-400 long-range air defense system is highly advanced and could pose a threat to US-built aircraft flown by the United States and its regional allies in case of conflict with Iran.
What’s Next: The UN arms embargo is set to expire on Oct. 18, and the United States has said it will unilaterally “snap back” international sanctions on Tehran, despite opposition from Russia and China and objection from US allies.
Despite the setbacks, the Trump administration shows no sign on of letting up its thrust to isolate and economically cripple Iran in hope of bringing its leaders back to the negotiating table.
Know More: Russia’s sale of the S-400 to Turkey has helped push Washington’s relations with Ankara to one of the lowest points since Turkey joined NATO in 1952, but the Pentagon says it has no plans to give up on its presence in Incirlik just yet. And Anton Mardasov explains how Russian leaders may weigh possible arms sales to Iran with regard to the Kremlin’s broader interests in dealing with the United States and the Middle East.

@Philosopher @sha ah ... what message Russian sending to Iran and ME...Do you think Russian able to handle the US proposed policy of snap back sanction ...

 

[SalarHaqq]

One point I haven't seen anyone mention so far (and which answers Haider's question too) is this: considering that to date, only Russian officials have been mentioning the S-400 in connection with possible arms sales to Iran after October 30 (likewise, it was probably Russian hosts who guided Iran's Defence Minister towards the S-400 and Pantsir at a military exhibition during his recent visit in Moscow, before having journalists photograph the scenes), it could well be that Moscow is in fact having in mind the possibility of Iranian arms exports to potential Russian clients.

More exactly, since Iran is now producing sophisticated defence equipment way beyond small arms, in particular in the air defence and missile sectors, and is even offering such equipment to foreign buyers (as seen with the recent Syrian-Iranian agreement for the supply of modern air defence systems), Tehran is slowly becoming a potential competitor to Russian defence enterprises at least when it comes to certain specific items, now that UN sanctions on Iranian arms exports are most probably going to be lifted (including thanks to Russian resilience against US pressure).

Now Iran has recently unveiled its domestic Bavar-373 long-range high-altitude AD system that is more or less on par with the S-400 or the most advanced versions of the S-300; it will soon unveil its indigeneous short-range AD solutions such as Oghab etc.

Therefore, these statements by Russian officials, which indirectly suggest that Iran has an in interest in importing the Pantsir and the S-400, could perhaps simply be intended to create the impression with potential future buyers of Iranian defence equipment, that Tehran itself is unsure about the quality, performance and reliability of its top-of-the-line defence products (even if this wouldn't apply to Iranian lower tech weapons), hence its purported enquiries about the mentioned Russian SAMs. So these statements might simply form part of a proactive marketing ploy by Moscow aimed at its theoretical and effective clients, considering the surfacing on the markets of a possible competitor.

In a similar fashion, it could be that in case Iran placed an order with Russia for some equipment that it really wants and needs (like the mysterious order for 67 Su-35 fighter jets placed by an "unknown client", or anything along those lines), Moscow might have conditioned the deal on Tehran purchasing some additional items it had not requested (this aspect was recently mentioned by user Mithridates in another topic), those items consisting of redundant systems Iran is already producing domestic equivalents of - again with a view to leading potential clients into assuming Iran might not be 100% trusting of her indigeneous alternatives.

This is merely a hypothesis which crossed my mind when I realized that this insistence on evoking the S-400 and Pantsir - and these two systems in particular, is very one-sided one and originates exclusively from Russian, not Iranian sources.

@yavar

 

[PakFactor]

Useless Ally that itself gets hamstrung and sanctioned on --

 

[mike2000 is back]

Oct 5, 2020
Russia’s ambassador to Iran said Saturday that the Kremlin may sell its S-400 missile defense system to Tehran after the UN arms embargo expires later this month.
“We have provided Iran with the S-300. Russia does not have any problem to deliver the S-400 to Iran, and it did not have any problem before, either,” Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan told Tehran-based Risalat newspaper, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
“We have said since the very first day that there will be no problem for selling weapons to Iran from Oct. 19,” Dzhagaryan said, adding that Russia is not concerned with US threats.
Why It Matters: The seriousness of Dzhagaryan’s suggestion remains unclear. The Kremlin has floated the proposal before, though no formal request by Iran has been publicized.
But if Iran were to obtain the S-400, it would be a slap in the face to the Donald Trump administration and is unlikely to be taken kindly by Israel.

Russia already delivered its S-300 missile defense system to Iran in 2016 after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during the Barack Obama US presidential administration.
The Trump administration failed to convince even its major European allies Germany, Britain and France to support the renewal of the yearslong arms embargo.
The S-400 long-range air defense system is highly advanced and could pose a threat to US-built aircraft flown by the United States and its regional allies in case of conflict with Iran.
What’s Next: The UN arms embargo is set to expire on Oct. 18, and the United States has said it will unilaterally “snap back” international sanctions on Tehran, despite opposition from Russia and China and objection from US allies.
Despite the setbacks, the Trump administration shows no sign on of letting up its thrust to isolate and economically cripple Iran in hope of bringing its leaders back to the negotiating table.
Know More: Russia’s sale of the S-400 to Turkey has helped push Washington’s relations with Ankara to one of the lowest points since Turkey joined NATO in 1952, but the Pentagon says it has no plans to give up on its presence in Incirlik just yet. And Anton Mardasov explains how Russian leaders may weigh possible arms sales to Iran with regard to the Kremlin’s broader interests in dealing with the United States and the Middle East.

@Philosopher @sha ah ... what message Russian sending to Iran and ME...Do you think Russian able to handle the US proposed policy of snap back sanction ...

Lol It weird seeing this"May, Might" threads. Should just post actual topics that are being discussed or have taken place.

I "might" go to N. Korea tomorrow

 

[Philosopher]

Useless Ally that itself gets hamstrung and sanctioned on --

Sanctions are the side effect of not bowing to the wills and whims of ones adversaries, a fact which you apparently cannot comprehend. Your "logic" (if we can even call it that) in the context of what constitutes good allies is basically reversed.

Lol It weird seeing this"May, Might" threads. Should just post actual topics that are being discussed or have taken place.

I "might" go to N. Korea tomorrow

The "might" is really the Iran factor and whether Iran would go for it. They have offered the system to Iran. Iran would be wasting its cash to purchase the S-400 given the level of its own Bavar-373. S-500 could be purchased depending on its capabilities and whether the Russians would sell it so early. The only area in which the Iranians really need the Russian help in would be fighter jets. I am expecting SU-35 deals, but we'll see.

 

[SuvarnaTeja]

Lol It weird seeing this"May, Might" threads. Should just post actual topics that are being discussed or have taken place.

I "might" go to N. Korea tomorrow

Russia cannot do it unilaterally.

Russia needs to agree to sell and Iran needs to agree to buy.