Russia says 'issues' must be settled before S-300 delivery to Iran
Russia has raised a number of "issues" obstructing the delivery of its S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) defense systems to Iran as agreed in 2007.
Russia’s Interfax news agency cited the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday as saying that Moscow will provide the air defense systems to the Islamic Republic upon "the adaptation" of the 2007 agreement to the current situation.
He said, "It is because of the adaptation of that agreement to the new reality that some negotiating process is taking place.”
The diplomat also said the delivery would be enacted following the resolution of the issue of a lawsuit filed by Tehran with an arbitration court over Moscow’s failure to deliver the systems as agreed.
“On top of that, I have to mention that the failure to fulfill the 2007 contract led to Iran laying claims against Russia with an international [court of] arbitration. This problem, too, should be somehow dealt with and settled in some way. We will be dealing with that too," he noted.
The shipments will be done "once all these issues have been settled," Ryabkov said.
Moscow had banned the delivery in 2010 under the pretext that the agreement was covered by the fourth round of the United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
On April 13, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree, paving the way for the delivery of the missile system to Iran. The presidential decree came after Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - reached a mutual understanding on the nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.
On Monday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described negotiations on the delivery of the missile system to Iran as "successful."
Speaking during a press conference after a meeting with Mikhail Bogdanov, another Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, in the Russian capital Moscow, he also noted that the delivery of S-300 to Iran will happen as soon as possible.
HN/HMV/GHN
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