“It is of course the sovereign right of any state to forward legal claims in an arbitration court. We have thought, and still think, this is not the best method which could resolve this situation,” Russia Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Under a contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 air-defense systems.
Russia has been refusing to deliver the system to Iran under the pretext that the system is covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council resolutions against Iran.
This while in an interview with RIA Novosti news agency on July 7, Igor Korotchenko, director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade, called on Moscow to sell the S-300 defense system to Iran, arguing that the move does not run counter to any UN mandates.
In April 2011, Iran filed a lawsuit against Russia’s state arms corporation Rosoboronexport in the International Arbitration Court in Geneva.
On July 18, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran is still pursuing delivery of Russian missiles through legal channels.
MYA/HGH/IS
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