RUSSIA TO SELL ARMS TO IRAN?








MOSCOW, MARCH 12 (from RIA Novosti's Dmitri Znamensky) - A resolution will be made quite soon whether Russia will export anti-aircraft and other defence arms to Iran, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said to newsmen after Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov finished negotiations with Iran's President Mohammad Khatami, currently on visit to Russia. The matter has to be thoroughly considered, remarked the vice-premier.


	Arms deal prospects concern not only S 300 missile installations, he added.


	Iran has never requested Russia for offensive arms but only defence arsenals, and it is hard to qualify anti-aircraft arsenals as offensive, stressed Mr. Klebanov.


	Arms deals are an extremely far-reaching matter, and it is hard to say now just when related contracts may be signed, he remarked.


	Implementation of Russo-Iranian understandings reached before 1996 has become a topical issue now, added Ilya Klebanov.