Russia may sign other contracts with Iran after S-300 deliveries � vice-premier

The international community will soon lift sanctions on Iran and the Islamic Republic will enter the world market with its products

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. The contract for the delivery of S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran opens the way for Moscow�s broader cooperation with Tehran, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Wednesday.

"This contract for the delivery of the S-300 air defense missile system opens a whole road of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran both in the military and technical and civilian spheres," the vice-premier said.

The contract for the delivery of Russian-made S-300 antiaircraft missile systems to Iran "is being fulfilled and paid for and the deliveries are under way," Rogozin said, adding this contract would be followed by other contracts with Tehran.

"We�re expecting to enter the Iranian aviation market with our Sukhoi SuperJet airliners. We plan to supply Iran with the hardware permitted by sanctions, is needed and has not been supplied to Iran for a long time," the Russian vice-premier said. The international community will soon lift sanctions on Iran and the Islamic Republic will enter the world market with its products, Rogozin said.

"So, this contract is like a door that is now open and helps make cooperation with Iran serious," the Russian vice-premier said. Russia and Iran signed a contract in 2007 for the supply of five S-300PMU-1 battalions but in the autumn of 2010 then-President Dmitry Medvedev banned the supply of these systems to Teheran.

The contract worth more than $800 million was annulled and the advance payment was returned to Iran. Iran filed an almost $4 billion lawsuit against Russia at the Geneva Court of Arbitration over Russia�s nonfulfillment of the contract. According to Rogozin, this lawsuit was closed in a court of law after "lengthy, complex and delicate negotiations." In the spring of 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on the supply of S-300 systems to Teheran.

By TASS