Tuesday February 17, 2009
Iran minister seeks missiles on Russia trip - paper
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran's defence minister will seek to convince Russia on Tuesday to deliver air defence systems which could help repel possible Israel and U.S. air strikes, Russian media reported.
Iran has long been interested in buying medium range Russian S-300 air defence systems from Russia but Israel has sought to convince Moscow not to deliver the systems.
Russia's Kommersant newspaper said Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar will seek to get Russia to deliver the systems during his visit to Moscow, though the paper said Moscow was extremely wary of selling the systems to Tehran.
Russia has repeatedly denied it intends to sell Iran the S-300 systems. Najjar will meet Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in Moscow on Tuesday.
Kommersant said an $800 million contract for five S-300 systems had already been signed between Iran and Russia, but the paper cited a source in the Russian weapons industry saying that Moscow had not yet made a decision on whether to deliver them.
An Iranian lawmaker said last year that deliveries had already begun and some Russian media have reported that Russia is fulfilling a S-300 contract with Iran.
Iran, which the West fears is trying to build a nuclear bomb, is emerging as an issue where the United States has signalled it could work more closely with Russia and thus ease the stormy relations with Moscow.
A senior U.S. administration official told Reuters this month that the if Russia agreed to help dissuade Iran from seeking nuclear weapons then Washington could slow development of a missile defence system in Europe.
The United States, its European allies and Israel say Iran is seeking to build nuclear arms under the cover of a civilian atomic energy programme. Iran denies the charge.
The new administration of Barack Obama has said the United States is prepared to talk to Iran, a step that has dampened speculation about pre-emptive strikes against Iran.
Russia says it has seen no evidence that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb and has warned that pushing Tehran into a corner would be counterproductive.
Russia is building Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr, and says it will start up the reactor at the plant this year.
In October, Russia's Foreign Ministry denied media speculation that Moscow would sell the medium-range S-300 system, saying it had no intention of selling weapons to "troubled regions".
The most advanced version of the S-300 system can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 km (75 miles) away. It is known in the West as the SA-20.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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