Iran ‘installs powerful missile defence system around former nuclear plant’
The Fordow site was thought to have stopped all operations in January but is now being used for nuclear research
IRAN has reportedly installed a missile defence system to "protect" a science facility from external threats.
The system is situated around a former underground nuclear enrichment plant approximately 60 miles south of the capital Tehran.
The Russian government will provide a massive S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system to defend the Furdow site.
The system is thought to be capable of firing missiles as far as 90 miles and track potential threats within a 200 mile radius.
The Fordow site was thought to have stopped all operations in January following an international agreement to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions on Tehran.
Officials now say the plant is being used for nuclear research, after being converted into a technology and science centre.
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General Farzxad Esmaili told Iranian reporters it was the "main priority" of the air force to protect the country's nuclear facilities.
He said: "Today, Iran's sky is one of the most secure in the Middle East.
"Since [the facilities] 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."
The S-300 system is being delivered by Russia under a contract signed in 2007.
Iran claims the entire system will be in place by the end of the year and says it will be used to protect Furdow from American and Israeli airstrikes.
General Esmaili claims the mobile system will be relocated regularly to protect a range of sites across the area.
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