Iran denies plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile system

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday denied that the country is planning to purchase the Russian S-400 air defence missile system.

"We have not made any requests to Russia for the purchase of S-400," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a press conference.

Mousavi said Tehran does not need the S-400, calling the Iranian home-made air defence systems as "reliable tools", Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran, however, has already bought the S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system from Russia.

Tehran had earlier announced that it is designing and manufacturing an indigenous version of the S-300 system -- Bavar-373 -- which would be more technologically advanced than the S-300.

On Sunday, Iran unveiled a homemade air defence system, named Khordad 15, capable of hitting six incoming targets simultaneously.

It can detect hostile fighter jets and combat drones from 150 km away and is capable of tracking them within a range of 120 km.

--IANS

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