Moscow to Sell Tor-M1s to Iran

The Jerusalem Post notes that Moscow has not backed down on the issue of missile sales to Iran, with foreign minister Lavrov insisting that the systems are “purely defensive”:

Moscow has refused to bow to Western pressure and cancel its US $700 million contract to sell 29 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran which was signed last December.

A Russian Defense Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that Moscow would fulfill the contract unless international sanctions against Iran make it illegal.