SOCHI, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Wednesday Russia could review its plans to deliver advanced air defense systems to Iran.
"President [Dmitry] Medvedev gave a promise he will reconsider the sales of S-300s because it affects the delicate balance which exists in the Middle East," Peres said via a video link from Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Peres met with Medvedev in Sochi on Tuesday.
Russia has until recently delayed the implementation of a 2007 deal with Iran on the supply of S-300s. The contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Israel and the United States have been making proactive diplomatic efforts to influence Russia to drop the plans. They suspect the Islamic Republic of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons, and have refused to rule out a military strike on its nuclear facilities.
Russian officials said in March that Iran had not yet received any missiles, but Moscow reaffirmed its commitment to fulfill the contract. Medvedev earlier said some payments under the contract had already been made.
S-300s are considered one of the world's most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system.
The latest version of the S-300 family is the S-300PMU2 Favorit, which has a range of up to 195 kilometers (about 120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 kilometers.
Moscow has not yet reacted to Peres's statement.
At talks on Tuesday, Peres also sought Russia's pressure on Tehran, with which it has close economic and political ties, in the long-running nuclear dispute. Iran has insisted it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.
