TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Russia�s Defense Ministry dismissed reports that the process of delivering S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran would begin on February 18, Russian media said.





"The beginning of deliveries of the first consignment of Favorit missile systems cannot take place since the Iranian side has not paid the price enshrined in the contract as of February 16," TASS quoted a high-ranking representative of the Russian Defense Ministry as saying on Wednesday.

According to previous media reports, the first consignment of S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems was to be delivered to Iran on February 18.

Sputnik had even reported that Iran�s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan would participate in a ceremony for delivering the S-300 in Astrakhan on Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry representative told TASS, "The presence of the Iranian defense minister in Astrakhan at the mythical ceremony of dispatching the first Favorit systems to Tehran is out of the question."

Under the previous contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 defense system batteries.

But the contract, worth more than $800 million, was revoked after then-President Dmitry Medvedev banned the supply of those systems to Tehran in 2010.

Later, Iran lodged a $4 billion lawsuit at an international court in Geneva against Russia�s arms export agency.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided in April to lift the ban on the S-300 missile system delivery to Iran.

By Tasnim News Agency