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Update: Iran, Russia implementing new deal on S-300 defense system: spokesman

Xinhua, April 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said here on Monday that Iran and Russia have signed a new deal on the delivery of S-300 missile defense system and that it is in the process of implementation.

"The first stage of the new contract has been implemented and we hope that, based on the new plan, the contract will be completed in its due time," Jaber Ansari said in a response to a question of whether Iran has received the first batch of S-300 equipment in its northern port city of Anzali.

Earlier on Monday, some media outlets quoted Iranian spokesman as saying that Iran has received the first batch of the equipment pertaining to the missile system.

However, Jaber Ansari later criticized as inaccurate media reports about his remarks on the S-300 issue, saying that he was referring instead to "the implementation of the first stage of the new deal," according to Iranian Student News Agency news agency.

Jaber Ansari did not elaborate on what is being implemented about the new contract.

In March, RIA Novosti news agency reported that Russia would hand over the first batch of the S-300 defense missile systems to Iran in August or September.

Russia and Iran signed an 800-million-U.S. dollar contract in 2007, according to which Moscow would supply Tehran with five S-300 missile systems.

In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev canceled the contract in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution, which banned such deals with the Islamic Republic.

In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban as Iran withdrew a lawsuit against Russia over the cancellation.

The S-300 is regarded as one of the most potent air defense systems. Endit