Russia, Iran sign contract for missile system delivery

MOSCOW: Russia and Iran have signed a contract for Moscow to supply Tehran with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, Sergei Chemezov, the chief executive of Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec, was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying on Monday.

"S-300, the air defence system, the contract has already been signed," Chemezov was quoted as saying at the Dubai Airshow.

Earlier in April, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a ban on supplying Iran with sophisticated S-300 air defence missile systems after Tehran’s landmark outline deal with the West over its nuclear programme.

A decree signed by Putin removed a ban on "the shipment from Russia to Iran" of the S-300 missiles, the Kremlin had said in a statement at the time.

Moscow blocked deliveries of the surface-to-air missiles to Tehran in 2010 after the United Nations slapped sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme barring hi-tech weapons sales.

Iran then filed a $4 billion suit at an arbitration court in Geneva for the cancellation of the $800 million order by Russia, which has long been Iran’s principal foreign arms supplier.

Despite the dispute over the S-300 missiles, Moscow and Iran had remained on good terms, with Russia agreeing to build new nuclear reactors for Tehran and both sides supporting President Bashar al Assad in Syria.

During a visit by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to Tehran in January, Iranian military officials said the two sides had "decided to settle the S-300s problem".