TEHRAN - A senior Iranian military commander announced Tuesday that Iran is developing its own version of the Russian S-300 air defense system, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, Farzad Esmaili, told Fars that the country's experts have removed the flaws and defects of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and have started designing and building an Iranian version of the missile system, dubbed as Bavar 373.

The Iranian commander did not elaborate further on the details of the Iranian product.

Iran and Russia signed a contract for the S-300 system in 2007. In September 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning shipments to Iran of the weapons and equipment listed in the UN resolution.

In August, Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow, said Tehran filed suit against Russia in the International Court for Moscow's refusal to supply Iran with the missile defense systems.

Sajjadi insisted that the S-300 shipment does not fall under the resolution, which prohibits the sale of conventional weapons, including missiles, tanks, military helicopters, warplanes and warships, to Iran.