Russia completed the delivery of a load of modern anti-aircraft missiles to Iran last week, the Eurasia Daily Monitor reports — a deal Moscow said does not violate any international agreements.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said the Tor-M1 missiles are "100 percent defensive weapons" and even said that if Iran were in need of other armaments, Russia would be ready to help, it was reported.
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The contract was originally signed more than a year ago, in November of 2005. Since then, Iran has received 29 Tor-M1 missile launchers.
The price of the deal has never been made public, but the Daily Monitor reports Russian sources believing it's somewhere between $1 billion and $1.4 billion.
The news comes as Iran began three days of short-range missile testing Monday. Those tests are in the face of the United States strengthening forces in the Gulf region.
However, Tor-M1 system is somewhat limited.
Ready for battle, based on a tank platform and including eight missiles each, it can take out only relatively low-flying targets at a short range, making it good against helicopters, attack planes, and low-flying cruise missiles.
It also cannot to engage U.S. bombers — including stealth aircraft — which the U.S. would most likely use if it attacked Iran's nuclear facilities.
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