MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) - The situation around the Iranian "nuclear file" will not affect a contract on the delivery of Russian Tor-M1 air-defense systems to Iran, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

"This is not related to and cannot be related to the Iranian nuclear file, as this deal is fully in line with all the norms of international law," Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister, told journalists.

Ivanov said Tor-M1s were small-range missile systems that were "purely defensive."

"This purely defensive weapon is designed to for air defense purposes, and it cannot hit ground-based targets," he said.

Moscow and Tehran concluded a $700-million contract in late 2005 to deliver 29 Tor-M1s to Iran.