On March 1, representatives ofRussia's Federation Council's Committee onDefense and Security will start their six-day visit toIran todiscuss the provision ofweaponry toTehran aswell asthe situation inSyria, the Committee's chairman Viktor Ozerov told RIA Novosti.
The visit comes a few months afterthe implementation ofa contract onthe supply ofRussian S-300 missile defense systems toIran, a document which Tehran said laid a solid foundation forthe development ofnew areas ofweapons development cooperation betweenthe two countries.
In an interview with Sputnik Persian, Iranian political analyst Shoeib Bahman remained optimistic aboutthe future ofthe Russian-Iranian military collaboration.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="636"]
In front of the portraits of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, and late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, a long-range, S-300 missile system is displayed by Iran's army during a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.[/caption]"Currently, both countries are poised toexpand partnership inthis area, withIran ready topurchase other kinds ofweapons [from Russia] forits Navy and Air Force. The military and technical cooperation betweenTehran and Moscow is not only limited tothe supply ofthe S-300 missile system," Bahman said.
He recalled that inthe pastcouple ofmonths, the two countries have held talks todiscuss the supply ofRussian fighter jets and light armament toIran.
The topic is expected tobe further discussed duringthe upcoming inter-parliamentary meeting inIran, according toBahman.
He also expressed hope that the two countries will continue tocooperate, and that Russian specialists could train the Iranian military aswell astechnical experts, especially given that Russia is slated toprovide more military hardware tothe Iranian Air Force and Navy.
In this vein, Bahman said that it will be necessary torender "staff support toIranian specialists duringthe integration ofRussian arms and transfer oftheir technology."
"Also, the pastseveral years have seen the intensification ofmilitary cooperation betweenIran and Russia onSyria," he said, also referring toanti-terrorist drills betweenthe two countries.
"So the level ofmilitary collaboration betweenIran and Russia is not limited tothe agreements onarms supplies," Bahman concluded.
The $900-million contract todeliver five Russian S-300 systems toIran was signed in2007. It was suspended afterthe adoption ofUN Security Council sanctions againstIran inmid-2010.
RIA: Russia completed the delivery ofanti-aircraft missile systems S-300 toIran https://t.co/LTlguZXo4v pic.twitter.com/tmTurPJi6Q
Russian Exercises (@RUSexercises) 13 ??????? 2016 ?.
In April 2015, Russia resumed the talks onthe S-300 deliveries followingan interim agreement onthe Iranian nuclear program.
Tehran announced a year later that Russia had delivered its first consignment ofS-300 missiles asscheduled.
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif had agreed that the intra-Syrian talks inAstana were an effective platform forthe resolution ofthe Syrian conflict, pledging tomaintain efforts toclosely coordinate their efforts toresolve the conflict.
The Astana talks onthe Syrian crisis settlement brought together the representatives ofthe Syrian government and the armed opposition groups forthe first time sincethe Syrian War began six years ago.
As a result ofthe talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed toestablish a trilateral mechanism tomonitor the ceasefire that came intoeffect onDecember 30, 2016.
