‘Iran designs system superior to S-300’

A senior Iranian Army commander says the Islamic Republic is building a more sophisticated version of Russia’s S-300 missile defense system at home.

“The flaws and defects of the (Russian) S-300 system have been corrected in the indigenous version of the system and its conceptual designing has been finished,” Fars news agency quoted Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili as saying on Tuesday.

Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base said that the Iranian version of the surface-to-air missile system, dubbed as “Bavar-373,” uses two or three types of missiles to confront aerial targets in different layers.

The Iranian commander also criticized Russia for backtracking on an agreement with Iran for the sale of S-300 missile systems under the pressure from the United States and its Western allies.

Under a contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 air-defense systems. However, Moscow’s continuous delays in delivering the defense system have drawn criticism from the Islamic Republic on several occasions.

Russia has been refusing to deliver the system to Iran under the pretext that the system is covered by the fourth round of UN Security Council resolutions against Iran.

In August, Iran’s ambassador to Russia said Tehran has filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice over Moscow’s refusal to ship the air defense systems.

“Legally, we believe the shipment of S-300 system is not subject to the UN Security Council resolution so we have filed our lawsuit, hoping the International Court ruling would help Russia carry out the supplies,” Seyyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said.

On Tuesday, Brigadier General Esmaili announced that the Iranian Defense Ministry has been actively pursuing the legal case.