Iran to get new Russian air defences

Iran is set to receive an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft system by the end of the year that could help fend off strikes against its nuclear facilities, senior Israeli defence sources said yesterday.

First delivery of the S-300 missile batteries was expected as soon as early September, one source said, though it could take six to 12 months for them to be deployed and operable.

Iran, which already has TOR-M1 surface-to-air missiles from Russia, said last December that an unspecified number of S-300s were on order. Moscow denied there was any such deal.

Washington has led a diplomatic drive to deny Iran access to nuclear technology with bomb-making potential, while hinting that force could be a last resort. Israel, whose warplanes have been training for long-range missions, made similar threats. The allies appear to differ on when Iran, which denies seeking atomic weapons, might get S-300s. The best S-300 can track 100 targets at once and fire on planes 120 kilometres away.

"Based on what I know, it's highly unlikely that those air defence missiles would be in Iranian hands any time soon," US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said in a July 9 briefing when asked about the S-300 - also known in the West as the SA-20.

Mr Gates meant that Iran was a good number of months away from acquiring the system, a US official said. An Israeli defence official said Iran's contract with Russia required that the S-300s be delivered by the end of this year. A second source said first units would arrive in early September.

Experts say the S-300 would compound the challenges that Iran - whose nuclear sites are numerous, dispersed, and fortified - already poses for any future air strike campaign.

Tipping point?

"The S-300 could prove to be a tipping point for the US and Israel," said Sam Gardiner, a retired US air force colonel who conducts wargames for various Washington agencies.