Iran says boycott of S300 missiles illegal

Ramin Mehmanparast, speaker for Iran's foreign ministry

Ramin Mehmanparast, speaker for Iran’s foreign ministry announced that the UN resolution does not justify Russia’s refusal to deliver S300 missile systems to Iran.

Iranian news agencies report that Mehmanparast told reporters today: “This action has been based on the 1929 UN resolution which is basically an illegal resolution.”

In June 2010, UN Security Council passed the 1929 resolution to impose a number of sanctions against Iran in response to concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities.

The speaker of the foreign ministry added: “In effect the UN resolution does not include defensive weapons.”

He maintained: “An agreement was signed between Iran and Russia and the commitments of the two parties are clear in it and we will abide by it.”

Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported that Hamid Sanai, head of the Parliamentary Committee of Iran-Russia Relations, contended that Russia’s decision not to deliver the S300 missile systems is due to direct pressure from the US and Israel but added: “We expect that Russia will reconsider this move.”

Sanai said: “The nature of this agreement was a defensive one, to be realized with the cooperation of Russia.”

Asked about Dmitri Medvedev’s recent decision to bar a number of senior Iranian officials from entering or passing through Russia, Sanai said: “Russia has more or less kept its usual stance which is to collaborate with the West while also trying to reduce the pressures on Iran and trying to realize the sanction through a different path.”

He added: “Iran must try to open new topics of dialogue and engagement with Russia but this is not to say that all our eggs should be put in one basket.”

Ahamd Vahidi, Iran’s Minister of Defence, said last week: “There has not been any developments in the delivery of the S300 missile systems but building the systems domestically is also on our agenda.”

Iran signed the deal for the delivery of S300 missile systems with Russia three years ago in which Russia agrees to delivery of five missile systems in exchange for 800 million dollars.

This defensive system is used for defence of large industrial facilities and can attack both aerial and ground targets.