MOSCOW (NewsCore) - Russia will explore ways it can bolster its military cooperation with Iran despite UN restrictions over its nuclear program, a top Russian arms export official said Thursday. Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, told the Kommersant daily that the fourth round of sanctions that the UN slapped on Iran in June hurt Russia's defense industry.
"But there are lines that we can pursue," Dmitriyev said. "We will continue negotiating with Iran within the framework of these possibilities."
The latest UN sanctions resolution banned the sale to Iran of eight new types of heavy weapons, including the S-300 surface-to-air system, whose controversial sale Russia was forced to scrap.
But Russia was able to sell Iran the short-range Tor air defense system, with Dmitriyev saying that Moscow intended to supply Tehran with new missile capabilities allowed under international law.
"We have prepared a list of potential areas of cooperation with the Iranian side, and it is quite long," the arms export official said.
The S-300's sale remains a major stumbling block in Russia-US relations, with Russian sales to the region also angering Israel.
Russia completed the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr, which some Western powers fear might help fuel Iran's nuclear ambitions.
