Russia to deliver S-300 missile system to Iran on Thursday: report

Russia will hand over the first batch of the S-300 defense missile system to Iran on Thursday, local media reported here on Wednesday.

The Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan, who is currently visiting Moscow, will participate in a ceremony, in Russia's Astrakhan port city, whereby the first set of air defense system will be sent to Iran through the Caspian Sea, the reports said.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said that Russia was about to ship S-300 systems to Iran.

Iran and Russia have diversified their cooperation, and both countries have "remarkable" political and defense cooperation, he said.

Moscow and Teheran 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 in line with a resolution of the United Nations Security Council, which banned the supply of conventional weapons to Iran.

Iran, in response, submitted a 4-billion-dollar claim against Russia to an international arbitration court in Geneva.

In early April last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to lift the ban on sales of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems after Iran and six world powers, including Russia, reached a framework accord on parameters of Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Iran withdrew the lawsuit against Russia after the latter agreed to supply the S-300 missile systems. Endit