Ahmadinejad condemns Russia over cancelled missile deal

Nov 3, 2010, 11:11 GMT

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday condemned Russia for cancelling a missile deal with Tehran.

'Some officials have been deceived by the Satan and thought that by illegally cancelling an arms deal, they could harm Iran,' Ahmadinejad said in the city of Bojnourd in north-eastern Iran.

'They should however be told that Iran does need their missiles to defend the country, they are still obliged to fulfil the still valid contract and if not, Iran will force them to make good the damage caused,' he said.

The Kremlin announced in September that President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the sale of an S-300 missile defence system to Iran because of United Nations Security Council sanctions against the country.

The presidential decree forbade the transfer of tanks, artillery, warships, helicopters and missile defence systems to Iran. Tehran had ordered the missile defence system two years ago.

Ahmadinejad further blamed Medvedev, whose country is a strategic partner of the Islamic state, to have 'sold-out' Iran to the United States.

'If you think that Iran would make concessions to the US because of the cancelled missile deal, then you should know that Iran would never do this,' Ahmadinejad said.

Russia and China are the only two major powers that still maintain extensive political and economic relations with Iran.

However, ties with Moscow have cooled since Medvedev took over the presidency in 2008, in part due to increased Russian support of US policies against Iran's disputed nuclear programmes.

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