MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russia may supply additional types of armaments not subject to existing bans to Iran, the chief of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander Fomin, said Tuesday.
"We have contracts with Iran, other contracts are also possible, but the talk is only about the permitted objects of supply, which are not on the UN’s ban list," Fomin said when asked whether the delivery of other weapons besides S-300 missile systems was discussed.
The service chief said that the permitted armaments include small arms and other products, including non-lethal, radiolocation and electronic warfare systems etc.
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Russia’s S-300 missile system delivery to Iran going partly ahead of schedule
According to the official, the supply of Russia’s S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran is meeting the schedule, even going partly ahead of schedule.
He said that he hoped that everything would be ok.
On April 11, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station Russia had started sales of S-300 systems to Iran, with the deal to be completed by the end of the year. "We are acting in strict compliance with the contract. They pay, we sell. We have already started. It is a supply in full sets," he said.
On April 21, the Islamic Republic’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman that the delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) to Iran boosted security in the region. "As regards the contract for supplies of S-300s, the issue is the cornerstone of defense sphere talks between Iran and Russia," Larijani said. "The situation in the region obliges us to have stable security. That’s why we had to decide by which means and measures that stable security could be achieved." "We believed that if Iran and Russia are able to reach long-term agreements, this may contribute to achievement of stable security," he said.
Russia and Iran signed a contract in 2007 for the supply of five S-300PMU-1 battalions but in the autumn of 2010 then-President Dmitry Medvedev banned the supply of these systems to Tehran. The contract worth more than $800 million was annulled and the paid advance was returned to Iran. Iran filed an almost $4 billion lawsuit against Russia at the Geneva Court of Arbitration over Russia’s nonfulfillment of the contract.
In the spring of 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on the supply of S-300 systems to Teheran.
TASS learned at the Dubai Airshow 2015 international aerospace exhibition that Iran would get the S-300PMU-2 version of the air defense system.
The S-300 is a series of Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz, all based on the initial S-300P version. The S-300 system was developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles for the Soviet Air Defense Forces. Subsequent variations were developed to intercept ballistic missiles. The S-300 system was first deployed by the Soviet Union in 1979, designed for the air defense of large industrial and administrative facilities, military bases, and control of airspace against enemy strike aircraft.