Iran has a strong air defense potential to resist possible U.S. air strikes, a senior Russian military official told a news conference on Thursday.

The Iranian air defense system "makes it possible to oppose any types of aircraft," including those possessed by the U.S. armed forces, Yury Solovyov, commander of Russian special forces, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The Iranian air defense system includes mainly Russian-made hardware, and also French and other countries' (air defense) systems, Solovyov said.

"Let us not forget that Iranian air defense specialists were trained in our country," he said.

Last week, a Russian security official said that Russian intelligence had information that U.S. Armed Forces had nearly completed preparations for a possible military operation against Iran and would be ready to strike in early April, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The United States has not excluded a military option in the standoff with Iran over its refusal to abandon its uranium enrichment program.

The UN Security Council passed a new resolution on Iran two weeks ago toughening economic sanctions against the country and accepting the possibility of a military solution to the crisis.

Source: Xinhua