"We would hope that Russia would take a second look at this issue," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

In Saint Petersburg earlier Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia would honor the deal "except in the case of some major event."

"The contract to deliver the short-range TOR-M1 air defense system has been signed; to fulfill it will take some time," Ivanov told journalists after a meeting with his German counterpart, Franz Josef Jung.

"Except in the case of some major event, it (the contract) will certainly be fulfilled," Ivanov said.

At the end of last year, the Russian press announced that Iran had signed a contract with Moscow to buy 29 TOR-M1 air defense systems in a deal valued at 700 million dollars.

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