Russia denies approval of arms sale via Syria to Iran

Moscow, May 23 (UNI) Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov today denied that Russia approved the alleged sale of its Pantsyr-S1 mobile air defence system from Syria to Iran.

"We have received no requests from Syria for supplies to Iran, not a single bullet," Mr Ivanov told reporters at a press conference.

He was referring to media reports that Syria had agreed to sell some of the Pantsyr short-range air defence missile-gun systems it was buying from Russia to Tehran.

"Russia engages in military-technical cooperation with all states that strictly abide by international law,'' he said, adding ''For any arms that Russia sells to its foreign partners, contracts are signed only after the receipt of a certificate from the end user.'' ''These weapons cannot then be re-exported and supplied to third countries without the permission of the seller, in this case the Russian Federation," Mr Ivanov noted.

UNI