Iran expects delivery of a large batch of air defense systems from China

In the coming weeks, Iran should receive up to 400 Chinese short-range man-portable air defense systems with QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the purchase cost is up to $70 million. The intermediary was the Hong Kong company Zhongqing Baoshang.

The delivery is expected to take the overland route through Pakistan to prevent the possibility of interception.

China’s Foreign Ministry called the report “completely baseless,” stressing that “China has consistently played a role in promoting peace and ending the conflict.”

The Pakistani military’s public relations department called the publication a “fabricated and false speculation.”