Russian-Iranian Military Cooperation 'Not Limited to Supply of S-300 Systems'

EghtesadOnline: The Committee on Defense and Security of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian legislature, will visit Iran next month to discuss weapons sales as well as the peaceful resolution of the war in Syria.

News ID: ۷۷۳۷۰۶

05 February 2017

On March 1, representatives of Russia's Federation Council's Committee on Defense and Security will start their six-day visit to Iran to discuss the provision of weaponry to Tehran as well as the situation in Syria, the Committee's chairman Viktor Ozerov told RIA Novosti.

The visit comes a few months after the implementation of a contract on the supply of Russian S-300 missile defense systems to Iran, a document which Tehran said laid a solid foundation for the development of new areas of weapons development cooperation between the two countries, ISNA reported.

In an interview with Sputnik Persian, Iranian political analyst Shoeib Bahman remained optimistic about the future of the Russian-Iranian military collaboration.

"Currently, both countries are poised to expand partnership in this area, with Iran ready to purchase other kinds of weapons [from Russia] for its Navy and Air Force. The military and technical cooperation between Tehran and Moscow is not only limited to the supply of the S-300 missile system," Bahman said.

He recalled that in the past couple of months, the two countries have held talks to discuss the supply of Russian fighter jets and light armament to Iran.

The topic is expected to be further discussed during the upcoming inter-parliamentary meeting in Iran, according to Bahman.

He also expressed hope that the two countries will continue to cooperate, and that Russian specialists could train the Iranian military as well as technical experts, especially given that Russia is slated to provide more military hardware to the Iranian Air Force and Navy.

In this vein, Bahman said that it will be necessary to render "staff support to Iranian specialists during the integration of Russian arms and transfer of their technology."

"Also, the past several years have seen the intensification of military cooperation between Iran and Russia on Syria," he said, also referring to anti-terrorist drills between the two countries.

"So the level of military collaboration between Iran and Russia is not limited to the agreements on arms supplies," Bahman concluded.