Iran hails transforming Russian S-200

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran has managed to upgrade the Russian-made long-range S-200 air defense system into an entirely new apparatus. IRGC Air Defense Commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said Iran has introduced such wholesale enhancements into the system that it can be assigned a new name, Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday. He said the system has been wholly optimized that its configuration totally differs from what the Russians had designed. “Of course, the changes have also received the confirmation and commendation of the [Russian] manufacturers of the system,” Esmaili said. Russia was also scheduled to provide Iran with at least five S-300 defense systems, but backtracked on the deal in 2010. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev issued a decree in September 2010, prohibiting the expected delivery of the S-300 air defense system to the Islamic Republic under the pretext of a US-engineered UN sanctions resolution imposed against Iran over its nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly refuted Western allegations that the Islamic Republic might have military objectives in its nuclear program. Iran insists that as a member of the IAEA and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has a right to use the peaceful applications of nuclear energy for electricity generation and medical research. Tehran has also criticized Russia, arguing that the UN Resolution1929 does not justify Moscow's refusal to commit to the S-300 deal as it does not specifically ban the delivery of the defense system to Tehran.