Russia had lifted a ban on supplying Iran with a sophisticated air defense missile system, the Kremlin had said.

Delivery of the S-300s was cancelled in 2010 after the UN imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

But the Russian president gave the go-ahead after Tehran struck an interim deal with world powers to curb nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

The $800m [£545m] contract to deliver the system was heavily criticized at the time by "Israel" and the US.
When it was cancelled, Iran filed a lawsuit seeking billions of dollars in damages.

Moreover, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement that the sale was put on hold "entirely voluntarily" to aid the talks on Iran's nuclear program.

The Russian defense ministry declared it was now ready to supply the S-300 equipment "promptly", an official there said.

Henceforth, Iran hailed the decision as a step towards "establishing stability and security in the region," the country's defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, was quoted as saying by state media.

However, the Zionist government, a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal, condemned the news. But Lavrov said the missiles were "entirely defensive", and were of no security threat to any country.

In a similar notion, US Secretary of State John Kerry had raised concerns with Lavrov about the announcement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, without elaborating.

Till now, it is not clear when the missile system would be delivered. Russia had stopped producing the model specified under the original contract and had instead offered an upgrade.

Russia was one of six major world powers to reach an outline agreement with Iran over its nuclear program.
The sides had set a 30 June deadline to reach a comprehensive deal. Still, tough negotiations lie ahead, in particular on how and when to lift sanctions.

Meanwhile, Kerry was due to brief Congress, as the Obama administration attempted to persuade opponents not to block the deal's implementation.

He said they should "hold their fire" until they see a final agreement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team