The U.S. government announced on Thursday it had imposed economic sanctions on Russia's Rosoboronexport along with a dozen of firms from China, Sudan, Venezuela and other countries in connection with the alleged proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and sensitive missile technologies to Iran, North Korea and Syria.
"The U.S. decision is linked with supplies of Russian air defense systems to Iran, although Russia does not violate any international agreement in the sphere of military-technical cooperation because Iran is not a subject to sanctions in this sphere," said Mikhail Nenashev, head of a subcommittee on military-technical cooperation in the lower house of parliament.
Iran recently took delivery of 29 Russian-made Tor-M1 air defense missile systems under a $700-million contract signed in late 2005. Russia has also trained Iranian Tor-M1 specialists, including radar operators and crew commanders.
In addition, the United States and Israel, which have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military action against Iran, were alarmed by media reports, which started circulating as early as 2005, on the possible delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran, as these systems could greatly improve Iranian defenses against any air strike on its strategically important sites, including nuclear facilities.
Despite Western demands for a halt in arms sales to Tehran over its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, Rosoboronexport has recently reiterated that it would continue negotiations on the delivery of more air defense systems to help Iran bolster its defense capability.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that U.S. the sanctions against Russia's state-run arms exporter contravened international law and would affect ties with Washington.
In July and December 2006, the United States also imposed sanctions on Rosoboronexport, accusing it of passing on equipment that Iran could use to develop weapons of mass destruction.
