Moscow has offered Iran a replacement for the S-300 anti-missile defense system it did not deliver to the Islamic Republic.
The new system as the Antei-2500, or S-300 VM – also known by NATO as the SA-23 Gladiator – according to sources in the Russian arms industry quoted by the Iranian Fars news service.
Outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to visit Moscow on July 1, and if Iran agrees to the sale, would sign off on the deal at that time.
The system can simultaneously destroy up to 24 aircraft within a 124-mile (200-kilometer) range, or intercept up to 16 ballistic missiles, Fars reported.
Iran has filed a $4 billion lawsuit in the international arbitration court in Geneva over the failed delivery of the 2007 contract involving the S-300 anti-missile defense system.
The contract was worth $800 million but which would have violated United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran.