Russia: UN sanctions to leave Russian-Iran military ties untouched

RIA Novosti:

Possible UN sanctions against Iran will not affect Russian-Iranian military cooperation, Russia's foreign minister said Thursday.

Sergei Lavrov said military and technical cooperation between Russia and Iran "is conducted fully in accordance with international norms."

At the end of 2005, Russia signed a $700-million contract on supplies of 29 Tor M1 air defense systems to Iran. READ MORE

The Tor-M1 is a fifth-generation integrated mobile air defense system designed for operation at medium, low and very low altitudes against fixed/rotary wing aircraft, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), guided missiles and other high-precision weapons.

Despite strong criticism from the United States, Russia has maintained that the systems could be used only to protect Iranian air space.