Iran, Russia not in talks on S-300 replacement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran and Russia have not discussed Moscow’s tentative offer to supply Tehran with Antei-2500 surface-to-air missile systems instead of the S-300, whose sale was previously blocked by the Kremlin, Iran’s envoy to Russia said Wednesday, July 31, according to RIA Novosti.

“As for the Antei-2500 [missile] systems, it’s just words,” Seyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi told said. “There were no agreements, and there are no talks [on the matter].”

Russia agreed in 2007 to supply Iran with then state-of-the-art S-300 air defense systems, but scrapped the deal in 2010, unilaterally expanding on sanctions ordered by the UN (Resolution 1747) against that country over its alleged nuclear weapons development program.

The ban on the S-300 deal was ordered by then-President Dmitry Medvedev, following intense lobbying by the United States.

Tehran filed a $4 billion lawsuit against Moscow for compensation for failing to complete the deal. Moscow is now trying to settle the matter out of court.

Sajjadi also denied Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Iran for talks with his newly elected counterpart Hassan Rouhani in mid-August.

“The matter of Putin’s visit is not even being discussed,” Sajjadi said, adding that the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, will represent Russia at Rouhani’s inauguration on August 3.