Russia's defense minister in Tehran for cooperation talks

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran's capital Tehran on Sunday to hold talks with senior Iranian officials on the latest regional developments and defense cooperation, Press TV reported.

Shoigu will meet his Iranian counterpart, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, as well as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The trip by Shoigu follows Dehqan's last week visit to Moscow. During his stay in Russia, media reported that Moscow was expected to hand over the first batch of the missile system on Thursday and that Dehqan would attend a ceremony in Russia's Astrakhan port city for the purpose.

However, on Thursday, the Kremlin announced that the shipment of Russian S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran was delayed due to payment issues.

"The deal has not been paid for properly, so it is premature to speak about a concrete delivery date," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russia and Iran signed an 800-million-U.S. dollar contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 systems. In September 2010, then President Dmitry Medvedev canceled the contract in line with a resolution of the UN Security Council, which banned such supplies to Iran.

In April last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban while Iran withdrew the lawsuit against Russia.

The original S-300 system, also named SA-10 Grumble by NATO, was first deployed in the former Soviet Union in 1979 to defend the country against aircraft and cruise missiles.

Subsequent modernized versions were developed to intercept ballistic missiles, and the S-300 is currently regarded as one of the most potent air defense systems. Endit