TEHRAN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) - A senior Iranian lawmaker on Sunday criticized Russia's delay over the delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "As a matter of fact, it seems to be the new chapter in the Russians' failure to fulfill their promises," Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, told reporters on Sunday.

    "This is not a new issue anymore ... If the talks (over the missiles), which has long been underway, do not end in practice, it will cause problem," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.

    The S-300, which is to be delivered to Iran on the basis of a 2007 agreement, 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.

    Based on the 1995 contract between Iran and Russia, the Russians also had to finish the construction of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, the completion of which has been repeatedly delayed.