Russia completes S-300 missiles delivery to Iran

Russia has completed the delivery of S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran, RIA news agency quoted Russia's state arms export agency as saying yesterday.

Russia's agreement to provide Iran with S-300 has sparked concern in Israel. Moscow cancelled the contract to deliver S-300s to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted that self-imposed ban in April 2016, following an interim agreement that paved the way for last year's full nuclear deal.

Russia delivered the first parts of S-300, the missile tubes and radar equipment, to Iran in April 2016.

Russia's defence ministry said last week it had deployed its S-300 air defence missile system to Syria's Tartus and warned Washington it would halt any attempted US strikes in Syria.

Moscow also sent three missile ships to reinforce its naval forces off the coast of the conflict-wracked nation.

Defence minister Nikolai Pankov did not provide a timeline for turning the Tartus naval facility -- which dates back to the Soviet era -- into a permanent base, reports AFP.

He said the main purpose of the S-300s was to protect the Tartus naval facility.

Russian lawmakers last Friday ratified a deal with Syria on its "indefinite" deployment of air forces to the country, a move seen as paving the way for its jets to stay long-term.

The deal, signed between Moscow and Damascus in August 2015, allowed Russia to establish its Hmeimim airbase to launch operations last year.

Tensions have soared since Washington pulled the plug on talks with Moscow aimed at reviving a Syria truce deal, citing Russia's brutal bombing campaign.

Russia on Saturday vetoed a UN draft resolution on stopping Russian and Syrian regime air strikes on the war-ravaged city of Aleppo, with the United States calling for a war crimes probe into the carnage.