Iran Counts on Purchasing Arms From Russia to Ensure Regional Security, FM Assistant Says

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - Iran hopes it will be able to procure arms from Russia to ensure security in the region, Senior Assistant to Iranian Foreign Minister in Special Political Affairs Ali-Asghar Khaji told Sputnik.

"We have military cooperation with Russia. And when restrictions were lifted, Russia became one of the countries where we can buy weapons, and we can cooperate with it to protect our territory and the security of the region," Khaji said.

The diplomat noted while Iran had not had the right to procure weapons due to the UN arms embargo, its neighbours bought them for billions of dollars, turning the region into an arms warehouse.

In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, Iran's Revolutionary Guard troops march in a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran.

© AP Photo / Ebrahim Noroozi

Earlier this week, Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan said in an interview with Sputnik that Moscow received requests for Russian defence items from Iran after the UN embargo on arms trade expired on 18 October 2020.

The arms embargo on Iran expired in line with the 2015 nuclear deal that envisaged its lifting five years after the deal's adoption. This gave Tehran the right to both purchase and sell weapons.