S300 Contract and the Step-by-Step Plan

27 August 2011 | 11:42 Code : 15813 Asia & Africa

Interview with Mahdi Sana’ei

It looks like the S300 saga is far from over. Tired of waiting for the delivery of the missile defense system, Tehran has now decided to file a lawsuit against Moscow, Iran's Ambassador to Russia Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi has recently stated. Iranian Diplomacy has interviewed Mahdi Sana’ei, member of the parliament to discuss the consequences of Iran's decision:

IRD: From which channel is Iran going to follow its lawsuit against Russia?

MS: Iran's case will be followed through the International Court of Arbitration located in Paris, since the party sued by Iran is not a ministry, but a corporation.

IRD: What is the likely amount of compensation the Russians have to pay Iran?

MS: The contract was worth of 800 million dollars with Iran paying around 170 million dollars in advance. In addition to this money, recompense should be also paid to Iran.

IRD: Iran's lawsuit is issued a few days after Russians proposed a step-by-step plan to break the impasse in Iran's nuclear program. With the S300 case, the nuclear story would revert to the deadlock.

MS: You have to see the bigger picture. Russian officials have expressed interest in strengthening ties with Iran and upgrading it to a strategic level, which Iran has welcomed. Tehran's reception of Moscow’s step-by-step plan proves its good will and trust in the Russians. Both sides are determined to expand relations, but Iran reserves the right to complain on certain issues.

Russians’ commitment over delivery of the S300 defense system is overdue. In the meantime, Moscow has delivered the same system to the Republic of Azerbaijan. This does not echo pleasantly inside Iran, so filing a lawsuit to exercise one’s rights is not untenable. Meanwhile, Iran wants Russia to translate diplomatic proximity into economic partnership. Negotiations over several cases of economic cooperation, including the joint Iranian-Russian bank and oil contracts, have not borne fruit yet. We want these to be materialized.

IRD: Russians justify non-delivery of the S300 system with UN Security Council sanctions.

MS: The UN sanctions have no retrospective effect, and the contract was signed in 2005. If Russians refuse to deliver Iran the defense system, Iran will achieve the technology by national experts, as it has done in similar cases before.