Iranian Defense Minister heads to Russia to discuss potential purchase of S-400: Russian media

BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:00 P.M.) – The Iranian Defense Minister, General Amir Hatami, will visit Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterpart and discuss a number of pertinent topics.

Russia’s Interfax News Agency quoted a source this week as saying: “It is expected that the Iranian minister will attend at the end of this week, the opening ceremony of the International Military-Technical Forum, ‘Jerimiah’.”

Another source confirmed that Hatami would hold “a number of meetings.”

The activities of the annual Jeremiah forum organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense will start this year on August 23 and will continue until August 29.

Meanwhile, the Russian publication, Avia.Pro, reports that the Iranian Defense Minister’s visit will provide the Islamic Republic an opportunity to discuss potential arms sales.

According to the publication, the Defense Minister will discuss the potential acquisition of the S-400 air defense system and several warplanes.

“The head of the Iranian Defense Ministry intends to pay a visit to Moscow against the background of the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic regarding the acquisition of weapons,” they said.

“According to preliminary data, the Iranian defense department intends not only to obtain information about modern Russian weapons, but also to conclude many contracts – the greatest interest for Tehran is the Russian S-400 air defense systems, Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, T-90 tanks, coastal missile systems and, obviously, tactical missile weapons,” Avia.Pro added.

In October, the U.N. arms embargo against Iran will expire, despite objections from the U.S. administration.