Iran deploys air defence at nuclear site

TEHRAN // Iran has deployed a Russian- made S- 300 air defence system around its underground Fordo nuclear facility, state television reported.

State media on Sunday posted video footage of lorries arriving at the site and missile launchers being aimed skywards. It did not say whether the system was fully operational.

Gen Farzad Esmaili, Iran’s head of air defence, declined to comment on the report. “Maybe if you go to Fordo now, the system is not there,” he said yesterday, adding that the S-300 was a mobile system that should be moved about often.

Russia began delivering the S- 300 system to Iran this year under a contract signed in 2007. The delivery had been held up by international sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme. The sanctions were lifted this year under an agreement with world powers.

The Fordo site, built at a depth of 90 metres below a mountain about 100 kilometres south of Tehran, was revealed by western countries in 2009.

Critics of Iran’s nuclear programme pointed to Fordo as further proof of Tehran’s intention to secretly develop nuclear weapons.

Iran insists it has never sought nuclear arms, and said the security around the site was intended to protect it from US or Israeli air strikes.

Iran halted nuclear enrichment at Fordo under the nuclear agreement and said the facility was now being used for research and the production of medical isotopes.

On Sunday, Gen Esmaili insisted there had been no change in how Iran defends its nuclear facilities, adding that “since they are national achievements of Iran, they must be vigorously protected”.

“We carry out defence exercises in non-nuclear facilities once a month but we do them several times a month in our nuclear facilities,” he said.

Yesterday, Iran inaugurated a new radar system it said was capable of detecting radar-evading aircraft . It said the Nazir system was located in a remote area and capable of detecting ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones.