MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. The delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) to Iran boosted security in the region, the Islamic Republic’s parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman.

"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.

"S-300 is just part of that theory," Larijani said. "As you know, there was a delay with S-300 system deliveries, but President Vladimir Putin made the decision, and the system was supplied to Iran. This positively affected the situation."

Iran interested in long-term military-technical cooperation with Russia

According to Iranian Parliament Speaker, Iran intends to work with Russia in the sphere of military and technical cooperation for a long period.

"We’re interested in the long-term prospect of working with Russia on this issue," Larijani said.

"And we’ll leave the details of this work to our militaries," he said.

According to Larijani, "any country creates some theory for its defensive structure." "Therefore, naturally, the issue of military development can be planned for a long-term horizon rather than for a year or two," the Iranian parliament speaker said.