MOSCOW
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has denied allegations that a top Iranian general visited Moscow recently.
"Last week Moscow had informed Washington that Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, had not visited Moscow," Ryabkov told reporters on Friday.
Qasem Soleimani reportedly traveled to Moscow late July allegedly to meet senior Russian officials.
“If it happened it would be a violation of Security Council resolutions,” spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, noting that it was “certainly then a matter of serious concerns to the United States."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry raised the issue with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a Thursday morning call, Kirby said. The spokesman did not disclose Moscow’s response.
Russia had agreed to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Tehran, Iranian authorities said in April.
