Iran takes possession of Russian air defense missiles

Iranian officials said Wednesday that they had received a delivery of advanced Russian air defense systems that are designed to protect its nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Bushehr, Tehran, and eastern Iran from attack, primarily from Israeli or American aircraft. The Associated Press reports that the arrival of the sophisticated systems came just before Iran began three days of military war gaming.

"We have had constructive defense transactions with Russia and we purchased Tor-M1 missiles that were recently delivered to us," the official Web site of Iranian state television quoted Minister of Defense Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as saying.

Najjar did not say how many missiles were delivered or when they arrived. Previously Moscow said it would supply 29 of the mobile surface-to-air missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005, Russian media has reported.

The BBC reports that the US "wants all countries to stop exporting weapons to Iran, but that Russia and China strongly oppose the move."

The response from the United States was almost immediate in the wake of the transaction. MosNews reports that Wednesday afternoon US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the delivery of the Tor-M1 missile system may cause the US to impose new sanctions against Russia, especially since the US had already harshly criticized the contract and "had urged the Kremlin to terminate it."

Washington believes that Russia should not have sold up-to-date arms to the country which refuses to meet the UN Security Council's requirements for development of nuclear industry. The international community should review the selling of Russian systems for anti missile defense of Teheran, McCormack said.

Another diplomat from the US State Department, who wished to remain anonymous, was quoted by Pravda.ru website as saying that punitive measures could be applied against the direct seller of the above-mentioned missile complexes and probably the buyer, but not the Russian government. The official did not specify whether the US administration has already initiated the process connected with the Russian-Iranian arms deal.

MosNews also reports that Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has repeatedly said the arms deal did not violate any international treaties or UN resolutions because the Tor-M1 system is defensive only and cannot be used to attack. In December of 2005, when Russia signed to deal, and the US responded by saying it was not good for the US or the region, Mr. Ivanov replied that it was "a legitimate deal between the two countries, no matter if someone liked it or not."

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