DUSHANBE, February 23, 2015, Asia-Plus – Russia media sources report the head of Russia’s Rostec conglomerate, Sergey Chemezov said on Monday that Russia has offered Iran its latest Antey-2500 missiles.
“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.
According to TASS, Chemezov told reporters conflicts in the Middle East had helped boost Russian arm sales.
“I don”t conceal it, and everyone understands this, the more conflicts there are, the more they buy off weapon from us. Volumes are continuing to grow despite sanctions. Mainly, it”s Latin America and the Middle East,” he was quoted as saying.
Last year, Russian foreign arm sales totaled 13 billion U.S. dollars, Chemezov added.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Russia has offered the Antey-2,500 missiles after a deal to supply less powerful S-300 missiles was dropped under Western pressure.
Russia reportedly 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, according to Reuters.
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.
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, with a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), according to the company that makes it, Almaz-Antey.
There was no immediate response to Chemezov”s comments from Iran, Israel or the United States.
Rostec, formerly Rostekhnologii, is a Russian state corporation (a non-profit entity type) established in late 2007 to promote development, production and export of hi-tech industrial products for civil and defense sectors. It brings together 663 entities which form 13 holding companies. Eight holding companies operate in the defense-industry complex and five of them are involved in civil sectors. Rostec’s organizations are located in 60 constituents of the Russian Federation and supply goods to over 70 countries worldwide. Rostec includes state-owned arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport, which has the sole right to export and import arms in Russia.
