Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said Tuesday, “The advance payment and its interest has been repaid to Iran by the Russian side.”
He said the contract included a paragraph providing for a penalty payment in the event of cancellation. But he said nothing about receiving any payment.
The Islamic Republic last year said it had filed a suit against Russia in the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. That is a private institution that hears business contract disputes.
That court does not issue announcements. It refused last year even to confirm it had received an appeal from Iran. Thus, it remains unclear if the suit remains unsettled or if the court has ruled that Iran does not warrant receiving a penalty payment.
Mehman-Parast ignored the only point that mattered. Russia long ago said it would return Iran’s advance payment, so that was never at issue.
Russia said it canceled the contract because UN sanctions on Iran barred delivery. But US officials said Russia had insisted on wording the resolution in such a way that it would allow the S-300 sale to go forward. For some reason yet unexplained, Russia later changed its mind.