TEHRAN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran denied on Monday
that there was an agreement with Russia over missile delivery, the semi-official
Fars news agency reported.
No final agreement had yet reached with Russia over
the delivery of a new air defense system to Iran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Hassan Qashqavi told reporters.
"The Foreign Ministry has not yet received anything
final in this regard, therefore, I can neither confirm nor deny this agreement,"
Qashqavi was quoted as saying.
According to Fars, the Iranian lawmaker Ismael
Kowsari on Sunday claimed that "the deal had already been finalized with
Moscow."
Moreover, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported
Sunday that Iran would receive the S-300 air defense systems from Russia soon.
Russia's RIA news agency, on the other hand, quoted
confidential sources as saying on Wednesday that Russia was currently fulfilling
a contract to deliver S-300 air defense systems to Iran.
In a counter position, Israeli Defense Ministry envoy
Amos Gilad, who was visiting Moscow on Friday, said that Israel expected Russia
to respect his country's interests.
"The deliveries of dangerous armaments to our enemies
won't serve the interests of peace and, for instance, can help Iran wipe Israel
off the face of the earth," Gilad said.
The S-300 is a series of Russia's longer range
surface-to-air missile systems. It was developed as a system against aircraft
and cruise missiles for Soviet Union's anti-air defense branch of the military,
but later variations were also developed to intercept ballistic missiles.
It is more powerful than the Tor-M1 missile defense
system which Russia has delivered to Iran.
MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia's state arms export
company said Monday it has sold "defensive armaments" to Iran, including
anti-aircraft missile systems, but it would not confirm reports it was
delivering S-300 air defense systems to Tehran.
"Russia is developing military-technical cooperation with
Iran in strict compliance with its international commitments deriving from
non-proliferation regimes," the company, Rosoboronexport, was quoted by the
Interfax news agency as saying in a statement. Full story
TEHRAN, Dec. 21
(Xinhua) -- Iran will receive the S-300 air defense systems from Russia soon,
the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Iran and Russia, after several years of negotiations on
the purchase of the air defense systems, have concluded a deal, Esmaeil Kosari,
Iranian deputy chairman of Parliamentary Commission on National Security and
Foreign Policy, was quoted as saying. Full story
