MOSCOW. Nov 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has begun delivering Tor-M1 air defense systems to Iran within the framework of an earlier signed agreement, a source in Russia's defense industry told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
"The deliveries of Tor-M1 to Iran have begun. The first systems have been delivered to Iran," the source said, adding that the Iranian soldiers who will operate the systems were trained in Russia.
The Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trader did not comment to Interfax-AVN on the report on the deliveries. "We do not comment on the information," a representatives of the press service of the company said.
"Earlier Russian officials stated that Iran is a sovereign state, a member of the UN and League of Arab States, and no international sanctions prohibiting it from receiving defensive arms have been imposed," he said.
Mikhail Dmitriyev, director of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, earlier said that there are no grounds for Russia to revise the contract on the supplies of Tor-M1 systems to Iran.
"The contract on Tor systems is at the realization stage, the process is going well, and we will comply with our obligations fully and on time. There are no grounds to revise contract conditions," Dmitriyev told Interfax-AVN.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters in Oslo on November 1 that Tor-M1 systems being supplied to Iran have restricted application and cannot be used as offensive operations.
"There was much speculation about a contract to deliver Tor-M1 short-range air defense systems to Iran, signed in December 2005. First, this system cannot be used in offensive operations and, second, this system has limited application and is only capable of defending a small sector of Iran's territory," the Russian defense minister said.
"Our cooperation with Iran is not large-scale in this area. In cash terms, Iran ranks in the third 'league' of our importers," Ivanov said.