S-300 DEMARCHE DELIVERED; RUSSIA PROMISES TO

S E C R E T MOSCOW 003011 NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2018 TAGS: ETTC PARM PREL PGOV MASS IR RS SUBJECT: S-300 DEMARCHE DELIVERED; RUSSIA PROMISES TO INVESTIGATE REF: A. STATE 108136 ¶B. MOSCOW 2635 ¶C. MOSCOW 2044 ¶D. MOSCOW 1586 ¶E. MOSCOW 1254 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Political MC Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4(b),(c),and (d). ¶1. (S) Charge delivered ref A demarche on the possible transfer to Iran of an S-300 anti-missile system and Igla-S MANPADs to MFA Director for North America Igor Neverov on October 9. Neverov said the MFA would disseminate the information and convey the USG's concern through the appropriate channels. He noted that the possible S-300 transfer was a long-standing issue and had been raised at the highest levels, with Putin having said in the past that there was a contract, it was still in force, but Russia was in no hurry to implement it. On MANPADs, Neverov said Russia had been very transparent about their position and discussed the issue with the U.S. many times (reftels). Neverov said the GOR would take the demarche "very seriously" and prepare a response following review of the information. ¶2. (S) Noting that the U.S. and Russia had sent the "right message" to Iran with adoption of the recent UN Security Council resolution, he said Iran was "well aware" of the consolidated position of the P5 1 and Russia continued to insist Iran fulfill all the obligations under the UNSCR's and "do what was expected of it." ¶3. (SBU) Also on October 9, in response to press speculation during Israeli PM Olmert's visit to Moscow on a possible S-300 deal (septel),MFA spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said that Russia would not supply an S-300 system to Iran. "Our high-ranking politicians have declared many times that we will not supply such weapons to countries located in what we call perturbed regions. This does not meet the interests of regional stability," he said. RUBIN NNNN End Cable Text