Russia scraps S-300 missile systems intended for Iran

Russia has dismantled and disposed the S-300 air defense missile systems originally intended for delivery to Iran, its producer said Thursday.

"The hardware intended for Iran does not exist any more. We have dismantled it completely," head of the Almaz-Antey JSC Vladislav Menshchikov told reporters.

Some elements, which could be reused, have been used, while some other parts have been destroyed, he said at the MAKS-2013 aviation salon outside Moscow.

The information was "absolutely reliable," he said.

The technical characteristics of the S-300 hardware and software made it impossible to sell the system to any other customer, Menshchikov said.

"This is why that equipment has been scrapped," he said.

Russia signed the contract in 2007 to sell Iran five S-300 ground-to-air missile systems, which caused bitter reaction in the United States and Israel.

After the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions against Teheran in 2010, Moscow canceled the contract which was estimated to be worth about 800 million U.S. dollars and returned the 167- million-dollar advance.

In April 2011, Iran filed complaints with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, claiming damages of about 900 million dollars from the cancellation of the contract.