Russia Agrees to Sell Weapons to Iran

Russia pushed ahead Tuesday with plans to sell billions of dollars of arms to Iran, a move U.S. officials fear could upset the strategic balance in and around Afghanistan and perhaps put new and more advanced weapons in the hands of terrorists.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov and visiting Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani signed a framework agreement for as much as $300 million in Iranian arms purchases in the coming year. Total sales could eventually top $7 billion, according to Russian news reports.

The agreement comes at a delicate time for the Bush administration.

Russia has offered to take part, to a limited degree, in a U.S.-led campaign against terrorists believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, and Moscow’s approval is critical to gaining access to air bases and other facilities in its Central Asian allies.

Neither side involved in the arms sales provided details of the deal, but Iran is believed to be seeking several weapons systems that would cause considerable concern in Washington.

Among them are antiaircraft weapons, including S-300 surface-to-air missiles and shoulder-launched Igla missiles, which are similar to U.S.-made Stingers. Also on the Iranian shopping list are Moskit and Yakhont antiship missiles, Sukhoi fighter jets and as many as 500 armored personnel carriers, according to Russian news reports.

U.S. officials fear such weaponry, especially the advanced missile systems, could make the already difficult military situation in the region more volatile.

Iran has a long border with Afghanistan and ports on the Persian Gulf, and could use such systems to target aircraft and ships traveling in and around the region.

But perhaps more important, because the U.S. declared war on terrorism and considers Iran to be a country that harbors terrorists, U.S. officials fear such weapons could find their way into the wrong hands.

Ivanov, the Russian defense minister, dismissed such concerns, saying all the weapons systems are “defensive” and do not violate international conventions.

“This agreement is not secret,” Ivanov said. “It complies with all the norms and standards of international law and has practically the same content as documents signed by Russia with many countries.

“Iran is a partner of Russia and, naturally, we are not going to act against our own interests,” he added.

Russian analysts say Kremlin officials may be calculating that if the U.S. wants to keep Moscow as a member of the anti-terrorism coalition during a possible attack on Afghanistan, Washington will have to mute its criticism.

“There is a widespread opinion in Moscow that now that Washington needs Russia’s help to fight international terrorism, the Americans will have to swallow it and shut their eyes to Russia-Iran military-technical cooperation,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst.

Felgenhauer labeled the Russian assertion that the weapons are defensive a “ploy.”

“From a military point of view, there are no such things as defensive and offensive weapons,” he said. “The only thing that qualifies as a purely defense weapon is a helmet pulled onto a soldier’s head. All the rest is both--defensive and offensive alike.”

In addition to selling weaponry, Russia is building a nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr. U.S. officials have long pressured Russia to withdraw from the project, which they maintain could help Iran develop nuclear weapons. Russia says the reactor is for civilian energy purposes only.

Russia’s relations with Iran have been warming since a secret U.S.-Russian agreement curbing arm sales was scuttled last year. In March, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami visited Moscow to jump-start the process.

Alexander A. Konovalov, president of the Institute for Strategic Assessment, said the secret U.S.-Russian protocol cost Moscow an estimated $4 billion in contracts--a fact little appreciated by Americans.

“Asking Russia simply to refrain from dealing with Iran is not enough,” Konovalov said. “America has to think of something to offer Russia in return for such a move. Free favors do not work anymore. Russia is not motivated to give such gigantic presents to the United States in the name of America’s virtual fears.”

Weapons sales are an important source of cash for the ailing Russian defense sector. If the expected level of arms contracts is completed, experts say Iran will become Russia’s third-largest weapons customer, following China and India.

Some Russian analysts believe U.S. commercial concerns are driving the Bush administration’s pressure to curb the sales. Nina Mamedova, head of the Iran department in the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, said the U.S. wants the Iranian market for itself.

“Russia needs Iran’s military market,” she said, “and any U.S. criticism is caused not by security considerations but by an eagerness to take Russia’s place in this lucrative weapons market.”

Still, experts say, the potential for military conflict on Iran’s border may override other concerns for the moment as all three countries find themselves on the same side of the battle against Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban regime.

“The United States will not dare take any serious action--first, because legally Russia has not violated anything, and second, because it is much more important to the United States now that Iran and Russia are members of the global anti-terrorist coalition and will help put pressure on the Taliban,” said Konovalov. “Today, that is a far more significant factor than Russia’s obscure supplying of some obscure know-how to Iran.”

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Alexei Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.