MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Russian supplies to Iran of S-300 air defense missile systems do not contradict the good relationship of Russia and Israel, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Israeli Channel 2 broadcaster ahead of his visit to the country scheduled for November 10.
"We have warm, very good relations with Israel and we are hoping to further their development. For this sake, I am coming to Israel. Also, we have relations with other countries, namely Iran and other regional countries as well," Medvedev said, noting that Russia had joined sanctions against Tehran and refused to sell it weapons until the Iran nuclear deal was sealed.
"I remember how during practically my first meeting with (US) President (Barack) Obama, he said that the Iran nuclear program was issue ‘number one’ for him," Medvedev said.
Being Russia’s president at the time, Medvedev suspended the agreement on S-300 supplies to Iran. Nevertheless, after the Iran nuclear deal had been signed thanks to international efforts, including Russia’s ones, and sanctions had been removed, Russia began to act "within the framework of reality that exists now."
"Certainly, we are not eager to whip up tensions, although we are also going to build comprehensive relations with Iran," he said, adding the contacts with that country had "sufficiently intensified both in the economy and in supplies of weapons and military materiel."
The contract for the delivery of S-300 to Iran was signed in 2007 but was suspended in 2010. In the spring of 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on S-300 supplies to Iran and in November that year the contract came into force.