Russia denies deal with Iran over military cooperation

Asia Bulletin (IANS) Wednesday 8th February, 2012

Russia and Iran have not reached any deals regarding bilateral military-technical cooperation during their latest bilateral meeting Wednesday, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Rogozin's remarks came in the wake of a statement of Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi regarding the developments at Wednesday's meet.

Sajjadi had claimed Moscow and Teheran reaching an agreement concerning resumption of their cooperation in the military sphere, Xinhua reported.

According to Rogozin, the two sides only agreed that situation should not affect the bilateral military-technical cooperation between the two countries. They also discussed the anti-missile defence issues during the meeting.

"We, undoubtedly, had discussed the issues of military- technical cooperation between our countries, but no decisions have been made," Rogozin told the Interfax news agency.

Military-technical cooperation between the two countries had stopped after Moscow suspended the shipment of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran in compliance with UN sanctions.