The U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf said Secretary of State John Kerry raised U.S. concerns once again in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday morning.
"We don't believe it's constructive at this time for Russia to move forward with it," Harf told reporters at a daily news briefing, adding that "We think given Iran's destabilizing actions in the region, in places like Yemen or Syria or Lebanon, that this isn't the time to be selling these kinds of system to them."
Moscow and Tehran signed an 800 million U.S. dollars contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems.
In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev canceled the contract to comply with a resolution of the UN Security Council, which banned the supply of conventional weapons to Iran.
Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the framework agreement, which they claim does not requires Iran to forego many of its enrichment capabilities.
Also on Tuesday, Iran welcomed Russia's decision to lift the ban on the air defense missile system to Tehran.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said Iran expects to receive Russia's S-300 air defense missile system by 2015.
"I believe that the S-300 system would be delivered to Iran in the current year. This would carry the message of stability to the region where Iran plays an important role," Shamkhani was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.
Delivery of the air defense missile system is part of mutual cooperation between Iran and Russia, he said, adding that there are high potentials to expand cooperation between the two countries.
Talking in Moscow to the reporters on Tuesday, he expressed the hope that the delivery of the missile system would further solidify and develop the bilateral ties, according to the report.
|
