Moscow: Russia's Defence Minister has confirmed that his country will go ahead and supply Iran with sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, media reports said.
"Unless there are some circumstances beyond our control, this contract will be honoured," Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti in Beijing, where he was on an official visit.
The United States last week called on all countries to stop all arms exports to Iran and to end all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities. But Moscow insisted it would not stop a project to construct a $800 million nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Southern Iran.
And Nikolai Spassky, the deputy head of the Kremlin Security Council, said Russia would not end military cooperation with Iran, including the commitment to provide the country with Tor-M1 air-defence systems. Russia's Defence Ministry has said Moscow will supply 29 sophisticated Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran under a USD 700 million contract, according to Russian media reports.
Ivanov also defended the Bushehr project, saying it "has nothing to do with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," according to ITAR-Tass.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and some of its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop weapons. The United States and Europe are pressing for sanctions against Iran, a step Russia and China have so far opposed.
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