No S-300 missiles sent to Iran: Russia

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MOSCOW, April 16 (AP): A top Russian defence official says Russia has not delivered any S-300 air-defence missile systems to Iran, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.
Supplying Russian S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense diplomatic wrangling for months. Israel and the US fear that Iran could use the missiles to protect its nuclear facilities.
Russian officials confirmed in March that a contract for the missiles had been signed with Iran two years ago, according to Russian news reports.
But Interfax quoted Alexander Fomin, deputy director of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service, as saying "nothing is going on. There are no deliveries." Fomin was speaking at an international defence exposition in Brazil, the report said
It was not clear why the missiles have not been delivered. There has been speculation, however, that Russia could use them as a bargaining chip with the United States as the two realign their relations under President Barack Obama's new administration.