50: Chapter 50: $2.16 Billion Arms Deal Completed

Since the main terms of the arms deal contract had been mostly negotiated, Li Yi and Lieutenant Colonel Haidari's assistant, Captain Jalal, began discussing the drafting of the specific contract.

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari took the opportunity to report to Major General Rahim on the procurement of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile.

"Major General, I have finished negotiating the deal for this procurement of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile with the arms dealer. The outstanding oil payment from the last deal totals 5.351 million barrels, which includes the unpaid balance, the compensation funds for the early delivery of the anti-aircraft missiles, and the funds for one set of the Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile and its accompanying missiles."

Major General Rahim was aware of this situation and did not press for detailed figures. "Continue."

"The arms dealer has provided two new models this time: the Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile and the Tianlei Type VI Anti-Aircraft Missile. The unit price for a set of the Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile is 30 million USD, and the unit price for a set of the Tianlei Type VI Anti-Aircraft Missile is 45 million USD."

"We have agreed to pay for this arms deal entirely in oil, with the oil price calculated at a 35% discount based on the international oil price, which is 48.425 USD per barrel, 0.425 USD per barrel higher than the last deal. Therefore, after deducting the outstanding oil payments, the remaining oil amount is 44.65 million barrels, and the funds for our procurement this time are around 2.16 billion USD."

"This arms deal includes the procurement of 500 sets of the Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 1,700 accompanying missiles; 200 sets of the Tianlei Type II Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 500 accompanying missiles; 50 sets of the Tianlei Type III Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 300 accompanying missiles; 10 sets of the Tianlei Type IV Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 10 accompanying missiles; 10 sets of the Tianlei Type V Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 10 accompanying missiles; and 10 sets of the Tianlei Type VI Anti-Aircraft Missile, plus 10 accompanying missiles."

"Except for the Tianlei Type I to Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles, which were procured in larger quantities, we only procured 10 sets each of the Tianlei Type IV to Type VI Anti-Aircraft Missiles. This is mainly because the prices of these three types of anti-aircraft missiles are too high, and our procurement funds cannot support purchasing larger quantities."

Major General Rahim understood that although there was nominally over 2 billion in procurement funds, in the international arms market, this amount of money could not make any waves; large-scale arms deals were in the tens of billions, and 2 billion was just a fraction.

"It is fine to procure this many Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles for now." Major General Rahim could not allow Lieutenant Colonel Haidari to use the limited funds to procure more weaponry.

"The newly procured Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles will be delivered in two batches; the first batch will be delivered within one month, and the second batch within two months. Each batch will consist of about half of the total quantity procured."

"Delivery in two months?" Major General Rahim asked pointedly, "The last deal was completed within one month, why can't this one be delivered within one month as well?"

"I have negotiated with the arms dealer, but the arms dealer does not agree to deliver everything within one month."

"Since the arms dealer does not agree, there is nothing we can do."

"The deposit for this arms deal remains 20% of the total payment. We need to pay the oil to the arms dealer in three batches: the first batch is 15 million barrels of oil, including the 5.351 million barrels of unpaid oil from the last time; the second batch is 20 million barrels of oil; and the final batch is 14.9767 million barrels of oil."

"There should be no problem with the oil; the oil inventory at Abadan Port is quite large. When the time comes, just contact Colonel Suman, the person in charge of the Persian Lion State National Guard at Abadan Port, and arrange the oil payment to the arms dealer."

"Yes. There is a new situation now. The Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles sold by the arms dealer are now all set with restricted usage zones. If they exceed the usage zone, the anti-aircraft missiles will be locked, and even if an anti-aircraft missile is launched within the usage zone, it will automatically initiate a self-destruct sequence after exceeding the usage zone."

"Restricted usage zones? The Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles we procured last time didn't have any restrictions, did they?" Major General Rahim asked, puzzled.

"The ones we procured last time might have been the first batch of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles. The arms dealer said those were the only unrestricted Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles sold. For this procurement, all of them will have restricted usage zones set."

"Then how does the arms dealer set the usage zones?"

"The arms dealer sets them according to our requirements. For the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles delivered for use in Syria, the usage zone includes the entire territory of Syria and Israel. For the ones we requested to be used in Iran, the usage zone is the entire territory of Iran."

"Can the arms dealer accurately control the usage zones of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles we use?" Major General Rahim found it strange; even with a positioning system, it would be affected by various factors and could not be fully monitored.

"The arms dealer specifically warned that even if we launch the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles to pursue Israeli fighter jets fleeing into Lebanon, it would not be successful. The anti-aircraft missiles would simply initiate a self-destruct sequence after entering Lebanon and would be unable to hit the fleeing Israeli fighter jets."

"Never mind for now, let's buy them first." Major General Rahim held a glimmer of hope that after receiving the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, he could study how to remove the monitoring components and bypass this issue.

"Except for 10 sets each of the Tianlei Type I to Type III Anti-Aircraft Missiles, and one set each of the Tianlei Type IV to Type V Anti-Aircraft Missiles, which are to be delivered to the Persian Lion State National Guard and set with a usage zone within Iran, the other Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles will have their usage zones set to Syria and Israel. Can we arrange it this way?"

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari hoped to get confirmation from Major General Rahim; otherwise, if there were changes to the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles delivered to the Persian Lion State National Guard, it would be troublesome if they couldn't provide enough usable anti-aircraft missiles when the time came.

Anyway, the Persian Lion State National Guard was only using the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles for testing purposes, so Major General Rahim decided not to consider providing the Persian Lion State National Guard with more anti-aircraft missiles for the time being and said, "This arrangement is fine. After you sign the arms deal contract, you must negotiate the payment for the first batch of oil as soon as possible, and then have the arms dealer deliver the first batch of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles as soon as possible."

"Understood. I will contact Colonel Suman and arrange the oil payment matters."

After Lieutenant Colonel Haidari finished reporting to Major General Rahim, Major General Rahim did not bring up any other matters, telling him that he did not need to continue haggling and negotiating with Li Yi, which saved a lot of energy.