Iran has received a Russian air defense missile system, the Iranian defense minister said Wednesday.

Iran's announcement came as it launched three days of military maneuvers - its first since the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against it in late December.

"We have had constructive defense transactions with Russia and we purchased Tor M-1 missiles that were recently delivered to us," the official Web site of Iranian state television quoted Minister of Defense Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as saying.

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Najjar did not say how many missiles were delivered or say when they arrived.

A Russian news agency on Tuesday quoted Sergei Chemezov, the head of the country's state-run weapons exporter, as saying that Russia had fulfilled a contract to sell air defense missiles to Iran.

Chemezov's comments were reported by the Itar-Tass news agency in Bangalore, India, where he was on a visit along with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.

Previously Moscow said it would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a US$700 million contract signed in December 2005, Russian media has reported.

Last week, Ivanov said that at least some of the missiles had been sent.

The United States last year called for an international halt of arms exports to Iran, and for an end to nuclear cooperation Iran as a means of pressuring it to halt uranium enrichment. Israel has also criticized arms deals with Iran.

Iran denies U.S. accusations that it is using its nuclear power program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons.

Arab League Secretary General warns U.S. against attacking Iran
The threat of a U.S. attack on Iran is very serious and would risk spreading sectarian violence throughout the Middle East, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Wednesday.

"It's a 50/50 proposition, and we hope that it won't happen. Attacking Iran would be counterproductive," Moussa told Reuters at the World Economic Forum.

U.S. President George Bush in his State of the Union address on Tuesday spoke of an "escalating danger" from Shi'ite extremists, many taking direction from Iran. Bush called them just as dangerous to the United States as Al-Qaida.

Moussa advocated dialogue rather than military action to resolve both Iraq and U.S.-Iranian tensions.

"If there were to be a war, other genies will get out of the bottle. You cannot imagine the impact on the Gulf countries, on the Mediterranean," Moussa said.

His concern over an looming U.S.-Iran confrontation was shared by business leaders and political commentators at an opening session on the Middle East at the Forum, an annual gathering of the world's rich and powerful.

Some said it would risk sectarian divisions spilling over and ripping at the fabric of other nations, such as Lebanon, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It would also undermine strong economic growth in many Arab countries in the past three years. This growth is important for stabilizing the region, they said.

One panelist said a serious danger would be any crash in the crude oil price, engineered by Saudi Arabia, to squeeze Iran's finances as a way to bring the country to its knees.

As a major crude producer, Iran relies heavily on oil revenues. These have soared since crude prices roughly doubled in the past three years, almost reaching e80 a barrel last summer before retreating to the mid e50s currently.

Moussa also said that Bush's plan to build up troops in Iraq and pursue a military solution will not resolve sectarian clashes that are ripping the country apart, he said.

"Iraq is broken," Moussa said.

He proposed a diplomatic solution, advocating a UN Security Council resolution that Iraq should not be partitioned, an agreement on reconciliation and amendment to its constitution.