Russian President Vladimir Putin said deliveries of S-300 missiles to Iran are a deterrent factor in the Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin said deliveries of S-300 missiles to Iran are a deterrent factor in the Middle East, noting that lifting Russia's ban on the deal was due to Tehran's willingness to reach an agreement on nuclear program.

“This is a defensive weapons system. More than that, considering the situation that is building up in the region, especially regarding the incidents in Yemen, we think that the delivery of this kind of weapon is a preventive factor,” Putin said.

On April 13, Putin signed a presidential decree, paving the way for the long-overdue delivery of the missile shield systems to Iran.

The Russian head of state further defended the decree and said halting the shipment of S-300 systems to Iran about five years ago was a “solely unilateral decision” by Moscow.

“Now that we are seeing real and obviously positive progress over Iran’s nuclear negotiations, we have no reasons to keep this [restriction in place],” Putin said.

Moscow had put a ban on the delivery of the system to Tehran in 2010 under the pretext that the agreement it signed with Iran in 2007 was covered by the fourth round of the United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The resolution bars hi-tech weapons sales to the Islamic Republic.

Following Moscow’s refusal to deliver the system, Iran filed a complaint against the Russian arms firm, Rosoboronexport, with the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva.

Russia’s decision to lift the ban against the Islamic Republic comes after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2. The two sides are now expected to start drafting a final inclusive deal by the end of June.

In a different context,  Putin said  that France's refusal to deliver two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Moscow over the Ukraine crisis would not affect its defense capabilities.

"Of course not delivering the ships according to a valid contract is a bad sign, but from the point of view of supporting our defense capabilities, to tell you frankly, this has no importance."

Putin said the main reason Moscow signed the 1.2 billion euro deal for the two massive ships in 2011 was to show goodwill and give jobs to France's Saint-Nazare shipyard on the Atlantic.

"We signed these contracts at the time primarily to support our partners and to give work to their shipyard, though in principle were planning to use (the warships) in the far east," Putin said in the course of his annual phone-in session with the nation.

France was due to deliver the first warship last year but the deal was put on ice after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the resultant sanctions against Moscow by the European Union.

"For us it is not critical," he said, though adding he expects France to return the money.

"I am counting on France... to return our money. We are not planning to demand any penalties or exorbitant fines, but all expenses should be returned," he said.

"Of course this shows that the reliability of our partners... is in question, and we will take that into account in future cooperation."