A senior Russian lawmaker says proposed United Nations sanctions against Iran will not affect Russia's plans to sell Tehran surface-to-air missiles.
Mikhail Margelov - head of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee - says Russia's contract to sell Iran S-300 missiles was completed before the proposed sanctions.
He also said Friday that Russia is a "responsible seller" of products on foreign markets and is "not interested in the militarization" of the Middle East.
On Tuesday, the United States announced it had won support from Russia and the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on a draft resolution that would impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran because of concerns about Tehran's nuclear program.
The United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
Russia signed a contract in 2007 to sell the S-300 missiles to Iran but implementation has been delayed. The United States and Israel have strongly objected to the sale because the missiles could potentially be used to thwart air attacks against Iranian nuclear sites.
Earlier this week, Iran said it had brokered a deal with Turkey and Brazil to send some of its enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
