A top Russian lawmaker is denying a newspaper report that Russia has helped Iran acquire ballistic missile technology that would bring much of Europe within target range.
Konstantin Kosachyov, who chairs the Duma's International Affairs Committee, told the Interfax news agency Sunday that Russia could not and did not cooperate on such a project.
He responded to a report published Sunday in London's Sunday Telegraph, saying that members of the Russian military acted as go-betweens with North Korea and Iran. The report, which cited unidentified Western intelligence sources, says the deal enabled Teheran to get shipments of top-secret missile technology capable of delivering a nuclear weapon 3,500 kilometers.
Moscow itself falls within that range.
Mr. Kosachyov urged Russian agencies to respond to the report to prevent what he called a spiraling of speculation.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.