"The presence of S-300 on board the Arctic Sea cargo ship is a complete lie,"
Russia has until recently delayed the implementation of a 2007 deal with Iran on the supply of S-300s. The contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaking in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed media speculation about S-300 missiles on board the Arctic Sea as "groundless"; reports that the ship had illegal arms on board were "absolutely untrue".
"The best means to apply outside pressure on Iran's decision-making process lie not in isolating Tehran or threats of resorting to force, but in involving it in an important international cooperation."
But see The ministry said that, when the ship was intercepted, its captain claimed it was the North Korean vessel Chendin-2, and was headed from Havana to Sierra Leone with a cargo of palm wood.
It said North Korea had asserted that was impossible, saying the Chendin-2 was docked at an Angolan port at the time.
And"The vessel had all the necessary modern means of communication and emergency alarms, and was located in waters where ordinary mobile telephones work," said Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the Russian maritime journal Sovfrakht.
