US defense experts met their Russian counterparts Wednesday to grill Moscow on its decision to resume military cooperation with Iran in violation of a secret 1995 accord.
The US delegation was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Controls John Baker.
The meetings were expected to last several days and no immediate details on the talks were released by either the Russian foreign ministry or US embassy officials.
The conference was called after Russia announced last month its decision to renew arms negotiations with Tehran, effectively scrapping a five-year-old agreement with Washington that banned conventional arms sales to Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov later brushed aside a US warning that Moscow could face economic sanctions if it went ahead with supplying military hardware to Iran.
A top Pentagon general will also visit Moscow next week to quiz senior Russian defense ministry officials about their intention to resume weapons exports to Iran, said a US spokesman, who asked to remain anonymous.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Henry H. Shelton will be in Moscow on December 11-13.
Under the 1995 agreement, Russia agreed to finish all scheduled exports of tanks and other battlefield weapons to Iran by December 31, 1999, and not to enter into new contracts -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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