Russia 'to limit' arms sales to Iran

Sergeyev (left) attended NATO's ministerial meeting in Brussels

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Russian and U.S. officials have begun talks on arms sales, following assurances from Moscow that Russia will not sell offensive weapons to Iran.

The pledge was made by Russian defence minister Igor Sergeyev during a 45-minute meeting with his U.S. counterpart William Cohen at NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to U.S. officials who attended the meeting.

"Sergeyev said they would sell only defensive weapons," said one U.S. official travelling with Cohen to a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"Most of these sales would be to service and maintain old Soviet equipment."

Russia, eager to boost revenues from sales on the global arms market, has said it plans to pull out of a 1995 deal with the U.S. which restricted conventional weapons sales to Iran. Washington says Tehran is trying to develop nuclear arms and supports anti-western "terrorist" groups.

Moscow has insisted that it can have trade links with any state it wishes, dismissing U.S. threats of possible sanctions if it backs out of the 1995 deal.

Sergeyev is to visit Iran, possibly before the end of this year.

Washington is particularly concerned that any new transfers to Iran do not include technology that might improve Tehran's Sahab-3 missile, now in development with a range of about 1,500 kilometres (about 930 miles).

Cohen was told: 'No offensive weapons to Iran'

The prospect of new arms deals with Iran is tempting for Moscow, which hopes to achieve $4 billion in sales this year by developing new markets and by rebuilding its position with clients from the Soviet era.

But Russia still lags far behind the U.S., which accounts for around 50 percent of the more than $50 billion global arms market.

U.S. officials described the Cohen-Sergeyev talks as "upbeat", saying that the U.S. defence secretary had praised his counterpart's suggestion at the NATO gathering that Moscow's ties with the western alliance needed to break out of a state of "permafrost."

The two defence leaders promised to work together on a range of issues, including a joint planned early missile warning system and co-operation on possible joint submarine rescue efforts.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Russian Foreign Ministry
U.S. Defense Department
Federation of American Scientists: Arms Sales Monitoring Project

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