Iran says Russia ties important for protecting global security

Close cooperation between Iran and Russia is important for protecting regional and international security, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by Press TV on Monday.

Shamkhani criticized some western countries and their regional allies for what he called their "destructive roles" in the region, as they have caused "damage to the regional human and financial resources by violating moral and legal principles."

Independent countries could play an active role in the face of growing insecurity and extremism in the world, he said in a meeting with Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow on Monday.

Shamkhani stressed further expansion of Tehran-Moscow cooperation on the regional and international developments.

The remarks by Iran's top security official come in the wake of the news that Russia has lifted a ban on supplying Iran with the sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.

On Monday, the Kremlin's press service said in a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to lift the ban on the sales of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.

Moscow and Tehran signed an 800-million-U.S.-dollar contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems.

In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the contract to comply with a resolution of the UN Security Council, which banned the supply of conventional weapons to Iran. Endit