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Moscow says S-300 supplies to Iran will force those willing to attack it to ‘think twice’

According to Sergey Lavrov, a Russian-Iranian military alliance is unrealistic and unnecessary
S-300 air defense system ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin
S-300 air defense system
© ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. The supplies of Russian S-300 missile systems to Iran are not breaking the balance of powers in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"As a result of the supplies of S-300 to Iran, those who still want to launch a strike against Iran will probably think at least twice before doing that," Lavrov said in an interview with three radio stations, Ekho Moskvy, Sputnik and Govorit Moskva.

However, according to the minister, neither Moscow, nor Tehran need a Russian-Iranian military alliance.

"We have received no [such] proposals from the Iranian side. This is unrealistic and unnecessary," Lavrov said.

According to him, Russia, Iran, as well as India and China are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). "SCO members and observers actively interact within the framework of this antiterrorist structure, at regular military exercises, which are primarily of antiterrorist nature or are aimed at emergency response preparation," said the Russian foreign minister. "This is quite enough for promoting these ideas," Lavrov said. "As for the attitude towards Russia in Iran, I think the people fairly assess our interaction."

"Our role in the Iranian affairs - everybody recognizes this - are the agreements that were politically formalised at negotiations in Lausanne," the minister said. "The agreements are based on the concept we had put forward several years ago - reciprocity and a phased approach."

"The concept specifically contains solutions on the technical issues, the scale of the maintained nuclear programme in Iran, solutions mostly proposed by Russian experts," the minister said. "This agreement takes into account our cooperation with Iran for the development of its nuclear power industry that has never been restricted by sanctions and that will be confirmed now as an absolutely legitimate sphere of our joint efforts with Iran."

According top the minsiter, Russia and Iran will be developing military-technical cooperatio.

"We will be developing military-technical cooperation with Iran," he said, referring to "S-300 [missile systems] and restrictions on weapons supplies to Iran from the Security Council that will be lifted".

"Very good prospects are opening. We can do a lot together in the military-technical sphere," the top diplomat said.