AMMAN, May 31 (RAPSI, Denis Malkov) - Russia has little chance of winning the lawsuit filed by Iran over failure to supply S-300 air defense systems, Russian Technologies (Rostec) CEO Sergei Chemezov said on Thursday.
Iran has filed a $4 billion lawsuit with the Geneva Court of Conciliation and Arbitration against Russia's state-run arms export company Rosoboronexport over a cancelled deal to supply the S-300 systems.
"The Swiss court is hearing the case now and, unfortunately, there is little chance of Russia winning it. We will likely lose and so we are negotiating an out-of-court settlement with Iran, so far to no result," Chemezov said in Amman, where he came to attend the opening of a Jordanian-Russian joint venture to produce RPG-32 portable rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
Russia signed an $800-million contract to deliver S-300 systems to Iran in 2007. The United States and Israel harshly denounced the deal. In September 2010, then President Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 of June 9, 2010, which bans the supply of conventional weapons including missiles and missile systems, tanks, attack helicopters, warplanes and ships, to Iran. Russia cancelled the contract in October.
Chemezov said that after this, the United States changed its tone completely. According to the Rostec CEO, the US claims "it was Russia's independent decision and that the UN Security Council resolution did not specifically mention the S-300, which is a defense system, and so Russia alone must be held accountable for the breach of the contract."