Russia denies sales of sophisticated missiles to Iran (Roundup)

Dec 22, 2008, 13:24 GMT

Moscow/Tehren - Russia on Monday denied plans to supply Iran with advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles, the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said on Monday.

'Reports about the deliveries to Iran of S-300 air-defence systems in some mass media, does not correspond with reality,' officials said in a statement cited by news agency Interfax.

The agency earlier Monday quoted an unidentified military source as saying that the Russian Defence Ministry was preparing to hand over the S-300 missiles to state arms exporter Rosoboronexport for future delivery to Iran.

The source was quoted as saying that 'the delivery of the S-300s to Iran is expected to be carried out from Defence Ministry storage sites. They are now being readied for transfer to Rosoboronexport and then their shipment to the customer.'

An official in Iran's parliamentary security commission told reporters in Tehran on Sunday such a deal had been finalized with Moscow.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry however denied that a final agreement had been reached.

'The Foreign Ministry has not yet received anything final in this regard, therefore I can neither confirm nor deny this agreement,' said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi on Monday in Tehran.

Rosoboronexport said 'only defensive weapons,' including surface- to-air missiles, are being supplied to Iran, but remained silent on the S-300s.

Rosoboronexport said 'only weapons of a defensive nature are being supplied to Iran, including air-defence systems.' It added Tor-M1 surface-to-air missiles had been among previously arms sales.

Russian news agency Ria-Novosti cited unofficial sources as saying Tehran was also now negotiating the purchase of advanced medium-range surface-to-air SAM missiles.

Rosoboronexport's statement did not state whether advanced S-300s, which can target planes at longer range, were part of arms shipments to Tehran.

The United States and Israel fiercely oppose deliveries of advanced weaponry to Iran that could aide it in defending nuclear power plants suspected of being a cover for atomic arms development.

'The military-industrial cooperation Russia is developing with Iran is in strict compliance with its international commitments to non-proliferation agreements and cannot be a source of concern for third countries,' Rosoboronexport said in the statement.

Russia, who has helped Tehran construct its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr, has backed Iran in its insistence that its nuclear programme is purely for civilian use.

It has used its UN Security Council veto to oppose further sanctions against Iran.

The United States, meanwhile, has angered Moscow with plans to deploy a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, which it says is necessary to protect against a missile threat from Iran. Russia views the shield as a security threat.