Russia, Tehran's sole ally among world powers, has so far not delivered the S-300 missiles to Tehran, in a delay which Iranian officials blame on growing pressure on Moscow from Washington and Iran's arch-foe Israel.

"The Russians are under the pressure of the Zionist lobby and America and so have not fulfilled their commitments," the official IRNA news agency quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan Mansourian as saying.

"As this is an official agreement it can be pursued through international legal bodies," said Mansourian, the deputy head of Iran's air defences.

On November 11, the Iranian armed forces chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said that Russia was now six months late in delivering the missiles.

It was the first time that an Iranian official had spoken of a delivery date for the missile system, under a deal which has never been officially confirmed by Moscow.

Earlier in the month, Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi urged Russia to ignore Israeli pressure to scrap the deal and to honour its obligations.

"We have a contract with Russia to buy S-300 missiles. I don't think it is right for Russia to be seen in the world as a country which does not fulfil its contractual obligations," Vahidi said at the time.

"Russia has to fulfil the contract and not be influenced by Zionist pressure."

Last month, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Iran had not yet paid for the missiles because Moscow has not given its final approval for the deal, which has set alarm bells ringing in the West.

Under the contract, Russia would sell Iran five batteries of S-300PMU1 missiles for around 800 million dollars (530 million euros), Interfax reported.

The S-300PMU1 -- codenamed the SA-20 Gargoyle by NATO -- is a mobile land-based system designed to shoot down aircraft and cruise missiles.

Western governments fear Iran could use the system to boost defences around its nuclear sites against any Israeli or US air strike.

Neither country has excluded the possibility of military action to prevent the Islamic republic acquiring an atomic bomb, an ambition which Iranian officials strongly deny.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and its right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory, unlike Israel which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal.

related report
Malaysia denies role in smuggling nuclear weapons to Iran
Malaysia denied Tuesday any role in the illegal export of nuclear weapons to Iran but confirmed the involvement of a national in the export of potential military and explosive components.

Deputy foreign minister A. Kohilan Pillay told AFP Malaysia was not a centre for nuclear weapons shipments to Iran.

"Our country is not a centre for nuclear components or weapons or other weapons trans-shipments to Iran or anywhere else. We do not condone such activities," he said.

Kohilan however confirmed Malaysian Brian Kaam and Iranian Majid Seif, who lives in Malaysia, along with two local companies, were among eight people and eight companies charged by the US Justice Department on September 11, 2008.

"It is true that Kaam and two Malaysian companies Eco Biochem Sdn Bhd and Vast Solution Sdn Bhd were indicted in the US for illegal arms exports," he said.

"The items were exported from the US to Dubai by these individuals and it was detected on the way from Dubai to Iran," he added.

"We do not know who the end user of these items was but Malaysia is definitely not involved in any way."

The Malaysian government's confirmation comes more than 14 months after Kaam and Majid were named in a 13-count Justice Department indictment that included charges of conspiracy, violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United States Iran Embargo.

A September 17, 2008 statement by US authorities said the individuals were also involved in making false statements to federal agencies in connection with the export of thousands of US goods to Iran.

It said the eight individuals had purchased and then illegally exported "dual use" items to buyers in Iran.

The term "dual use" refers to goods and technologies that have commercial use but could also be used for military or nuclear applications.

It said the indictments were a result of an extensive inter-agency investigation into the use of US-made goods in the construction of improvised explosive devices (IED) and other explosive devices used against coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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