Iran files complaint at ICA over russians of S-300 contract

Iran lodged a complaint with the International Court of Arbitration against Russia after the latter refused to deliver S-300 air-defense systems to Tehran in compliance with the two countries' contract, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced on Wednesday."We have received our prepayment from Russia, but we have sent our complaint to the International Court of Arbitration to receive compensation," Vahidi told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran today. The International Court of Arbitration settles international commercial disputes and since the Russian company (responsible for the S-300 contract) is non-governmental, Iran filed a complaint with the court in order to compensate for its losses. Under a contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 air-defense systems. However, Moscow's continued delays in delivering the defense system drew criticism from the Islamic Republic on several occasions.Russia has been refusing to deliver the system to Iran under the pretext that the system is covered by the fourth round of UN Security Council resolutions against Iran.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issued a decree in September 2010 prohibiting the sale of S-300 missile systems to Iran, citing restrictions under sanctions the UN Security Council imposed on Tehran in June over its nuclear activities. Iran dismissed Russia's justification that the ban on the delivery of the S-300 missile system to Iran was in line with the (US-engineered) UN Security Council Resolution 1929, and stated that this is an air defense system which is not included in Resolution 1929. On June 9, 2010, the UN Security Council (UNSC) imposed a US-engineered sanctions resolution against Iran over allegations that Tehran's nuclear program is military in nature. After the resolution was passed, Moscow said that it was not obliged to drop the S-300 deal with Iran, since it was not referenced in the UNSC resolution. But after Washington's continued pressures, Moscow later claimed that upon further study of the sanctions resolution, it was freezing the delivery. Iran criticized Russia, saying that since Resolution 1929 does not specifically ban the delivery of defensive missiles, Moscow has no excuse for refusing to commit to the deal.