BBC
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Russia has completed a contract to sell some 30 air defence missile systems to Iran, a senior official has said.
The head of the state-run weapons exporter Rosoboronexport was quoted by Russian media as saying that delivery was completed at the end of last year.

The deal - worth $700m (£380m) and signed last year - has angered the US and Israel who say Iran may use the missiles to attack its neighbours.

Russia says its Tor-M1 system is short-range and purely defensive.

"[Russia] fully completed delivery to Iran of the Tor-M1 missile complexes at the end of December 2006," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Sergei Chemezov as saying.

Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has previously said that because of their technical characteristics, the missiles cannot be used by terrorist groups.

Washington wants all countries to stop exporting weapons to Iran, but Russia and China strongly oppose the move.

Both countries voted for a UN resolution which bans sensitive nuclear trade with Tehran, but there are no sanctions on conventional weapons.