Russia on Thursday announced a "new chapter" in its military relations with Iran in a move likely to further annoy Washington after Moscow's decision to resume weapons sales to Tehran.
Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said the two nations will "develop their military cooperation in all fields," after holding three days of talks in the first Tehran visit by a Moscow defense chief in more than 20 years.
"We've just opened a new chapter in our relations, marked by the reopening of military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran," he said at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani.
"The complete trust between the two countries has created the appropriate grounds for a deepening of bilateral relations," he said, while Shamkhani added: "This is a historic day."
Both men said the two nations had found common ground on a number of regional security issues, including the contentious question of the eastward expansion of NATO and the still-raging civil war in Afghanistan.
But it is the prospect of fresh arms sales to Iran, which has irked the White House, after Moscow said last month it was renouncing a 1995 US-brokered deal blocking conventional weapons sales to Iran.
The United States swiftly warned Moscow it could hit back with economic sanctions but has not followed through on the threat.
Under the deal, all outstanding arms deliveries, including at least one Kilo-class submarine, were to have been completed by the end of 1999, while further contracts were barred.
Russia said it was ending the agreement in November, just days before the US presidential elections, but has since pledged it will sell only defensive weapons and will not violate international agreements.
Russia's Interfax news agency has reported that Iran is interested in buying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, Mi-17 combat helicopters and Su-25 fighter planes.
The United States accuses Iran of backing international terrorism and developing nuclear weapons and has also expressed concern over Tehran's missile program.
Iran says its nuclear program, which has already received substantial Russian assistance, is solely for peaceful, civilian purposes, such as generating power.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday that Moscow's decision to renounce the pact was "a sign of courage and Russian independence and a decision based on its own interests."
Sergeyev said Thursday that some Iranian officers in future would be trained at Russian military academies and that the two nations would also expand political, scientific and technical cooperation.
Meanwhile Iran's foreign ministry issued a statement saying they had agreed to "long-term" political cooperation in central Asia, the Caucasus and the Persian Gulf.
Sergeyev met with Khatami, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi and other officials during his three-day stay, including top commanders from the armed forces and the elite Revolutionary Guards -- the first foreign military official to do so.
Khatami is scheduled to visit Moscow, although no date has been set. Iranian sources said he wanted to make the trip before the next presidential elections in June -- TEHRAN (AFP)
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