Delivery of S-300 systems to Iran is not a matter of near future - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The delivery of S-300 air defence systems to Iran is not a matter of near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the media on Thursday. "I do not think that it is a matter of near future. It is far more important that a political and legal decision has been taken to open up such an opportunity," Ryabkov said. He pointed out that the situation had changed drastically after the Russian president’s decision taken on April 13 to lift the freeze from the sale of S-300 to Iran. Under the 2007 contract Moscow pledged to deliver to Tehran five battalions of medium-range air defence systems S-300 $800 million worth. Iran made an advance payment of $166.8 million. No supplies followed up to the middle of 2010. In September 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on measures to implement the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1929 of June 2010 to prohibit the supplies of S-300 to Iran. The contract was annulled and the advance payment returned to Iran. Read more