MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) - Iran-Russia disagreements over the non-supplied S-300 air defense systems should not lead to total exacerbation of bilateral relations, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in an interview with the Russian service of the Iranian state television and radio broadcaster.
"We should not present these problems to the public as if everything is lost and the losses are irreparable," he said.
"I think the Russians really made a mistake," the Iranian minister said.
"That happened because the Russians thought the Americans would open the door to heaven and they chose to go to heaven and to put pressure on Iran. When the first door opened they saw they were not in heaven. That door was closed later on," Salehi said.
"I'd rather not see such things happening. But they happen in any relationship. It is impossible to judge and build political relations on one case only," the minister stressed.
Moscow and Tehran signed the air defense contract in 2007: the modern systems were supposed to protect Iran from air strikes. Israel and the United States objected to the contract.
Then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an ordinance, "On Measures towards Fulfillment of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 dated June 9, 2010," on September 22, 2010, to ban S-300 deliveries to Iran. Russia repealed the S-300 contract with Iran on October 7, 2010.
Last year, Iran appealed the Russian non-delivery of S-300 missile systems because of the UN Security Council resolution at the Geneva Arbitration Court and demanded compensation of approximately $4 billion. Moscow reacted harshly.
"It is a sovereign right of every country to appeal to an arbitration court," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. "Moscow thinks this is not the way to resolve the issue."
"Reasons for our decision made in consistency with the UN Security Council resolution were conveyed to the Iranian side. I hope common sense will win and the problem will be removed from our bilateral agenda," the ministry representative said.