Russia is to present its latest military and defense achievements at the MAKS 2015 International Aviation and Space Salon, seeking to strengthen its trade ties with customers from the Middle East during the show.

Over 600 Russian companies will be participating in the show, which will run from August 25 to 30 in the city of Zhukovsky, located 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Russian capital, Moscow.

Russia’s state technology corporation Rostec, arms exporter Rosoboronexport, arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey as wells as companies from the space industry will be among the participants.

More than 150 foreign companies from 25 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, will also be in attendance.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Jordanian monarch King Abdullah II as well as the United Arab Emirates strongman, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit MAKS 2015 air show on the opening day. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is scheduled to arrive in the Russian capital later to visit the event.

Iran & S-300 missile systems

Meanwhile, some Russian media said that delegates from Iran will discuss the delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems to the Islamic Republic during the MAKS 2015 expo.

The decision to deliver S-300 missile systems came after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany – reached mutual understanding on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2. The two sides later reached a comprehensive agreement on July 14.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree on April 13, paving the way for the long-overdue delivery of the S-300 systems to Iran.

Moscow had banned the delivery of the S-300 missile defense systems to Tehran in 2010 under the pretext that the delivery – committed under a 2007 agreement – was covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions against the country over its nuclear program. The resolution bars hi-tech weapons sales to the Islamic Republic.

Discussions on the Syrian crisis

A Syrian opposition delegation will also be in Moscow on Sunday to exchange viewpoints on the foreign-sponsored Syria crisis with Russian authorities.

On August 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country and Saudi Arabia have agreed to take practical steps for the resumption of dialogue between the Syrian government and its opposition.

The announcement came as Western-backed Geneva I and Geneva II peace conferences on Syria, held in June 2012 and February 2014 respectively, ended in failure since foreign-sponsored opposition figures refused to discuss widespread terrorism in the country and persisted in demanding the ouster of the Syrian government as a precondition.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has reportedly claimed more than 240,000 lives up until now.

The United Nations says the militancy has displaced more than 7.2 million Syrians internally, and compelled over four million others to take refuge in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon.