Russia's Decision to Lift Ban on S-300 Delivery 'A Step Forward': Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian defense ministry official hailed as "a step forward" Russia’s decision to scrap a ban on the delivery of S-300 air defense missile systems to the Islamic Republic.
"If Russia fulfills its commitment to deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran, it will be a step towards boosting the relations and collaborations between the two countries. It will be a step forward," Deputy Defense Minister Reza Talaei-Nik told the Tasnim News Agency on Monday.
"I think Russia has returned to the first step and is prepared to act upon its previous undertakings. We hope it will do so and show us its good will,” the official said, adding that such a move will “definitely help to strengthen Iran’s ties and interactions with Russia".
Talaei-Nik noted, though, that the Islamic Republic has now reached a point where "we can stand on our own feet in this field (missile defense)."
RIA Novosti reported on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has lifted the ban on the S-300 missile system delivery to Iran.
The ban had been introduced by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.
"(The presidential) decree lifts the ban on transit through Russian territory, including airlift, and the export from the Russian Federation to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also the transfer to the Islamic Republic of Iran outside the territory of the Russian Federation, both by sea and by air, of air defense missile systems S-300," the report said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on the decision, saying that Moscow’s voluntary embargo on S-300 deliveries was no longer necessary, due to the progress in Iran’s nuclear talks recently made in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
He added that in the view of current events in the Middle East, modern air defense systems are crucial to Iran for defensive purposes.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear energy program.
On April 2, they reached a framework nuclear agreement after more than a week of intensive negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
