TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems despite Russia's refusal to deliver them to Tehran under a valid contract, a semiofficial Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday.
The Fars news agency, which has ties to the country's most powerful military force, the Revolutionary Guard, said Iran received two S-300s from Belarus and two others from another unspecified source. Fars didn't elaborate, and there was no official confirmation of the report.
Russia signed a 2007 contract to sell the S-300s but so far has not delivered. The sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles would significantly boost Iran's ability to defend against air strikes, and Israel and the United States have strongly objected to the deal.
A spokesman for Belarus' state military trade committee, however, denied there were any missile deliveries.
"Talks with the Iranian side about the delivery of such systems have not taken place and, consequently, no deliveries to Iran have taken place, neither of these systems or elements of them," said Vladimir Lavrenyuk. "The Belarusian side strictly observes all international agreements on export control."
The S-300 is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 90 miles and at altitudes of about 90,000 feet.
The report comes as Iran faces increasing pressure from the West over its nuclear program.
The U.S. accuses Tehran of seeking to build an atomic weapon, a claim Iran denies. The United Nations has imposed four rounds of financial sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce fuel for a reactor or a warhead. Iran says it has a right to conduct enrichment for what it says is its peaceful nuclear program.
Moscow said in June that the latest round of U.N. sanctions would prevent it from delivering the S-300s to Iran. The U.S. State Department said that Washington appreciates Russia's restraint.
But last month, Sergei Chemezov, the head of the state-owned industrial giant Russian Technologies, said the contract for the delivery of S-300s to Iran had not been annulled yet, pending a decision by President Dmitry Medvedev.