Russian S-400 anti-missile system
Russian S-400 anti-missile systemReuters

Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan has made clear that his country is ready to supply Iran with its S-400 air defense system once the UN arms embargo against Iran expires on October 18.

“We have said since the very first day that there will be no problem for selling weapons to Iran from October 19,” Dzhagaryan said, according to the semiofficial Iranian Fars news agency.

He stressed that Russia does not fear US threats and will remain committed to its undertakings, adding that Moscow is ready to study the Iranian side’s proposals on purchasing weapons from Russia after October 18.

“As you know we have provided Iran with S-300. Russia does not have any problem to deliver S-400 to Iran and it did not have any problem before either,” Dzhagaryan said, according to Fars.

Washington recently started the process of restoring all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. The move to activate the “snapback” came after the UN Security Council rejected the US resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran, saying there was no general agreement among council members.

The S-400 anti-missile system, known to NATO as the SA-21 "Growler," is said to have a maximum range of 250 miles, and can bring down airplanes at up to 90,000 feet - more than double the height of a cruising commercial airliner.

After the removal of pre-nuclear-deal sanctions against Iran, Russia delivered its S-300 air defense systems to the country under the existing contract.

Iran then designed and developed its own version of the S-300 missile shield, named Bavar 373.

Officials in Tehran have claimed in the past that the Russian S-300 missile defense system is sufficient to defend Iran and that, as a result it does not intend to purchase the improved S-400 system from Moscow.

Russia has already delivered some shipments of its S-400 system to Turkey, raising the ire of the United States which has threatened Turkey with sanctions in response.