The Syrian plane intercepted by Turkey on a flight from Moscow was carrying Russian radar parts for Syrian missile defense systems but not weapons, a Russian newspaper report said Friday.

The plane was loaded with 12 boxes containing parts for radars used in the Syrian army's missile defence systems, Kommersant quoted sources in the arms export industry as saying, denying accusations by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the cargo included ammunition.

Russia is the only player able to halt Iran's nuclear program without the use of force or crippling sanctions, Israel's parliamentary speaker told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday.

Speaking on a visit to Moscow, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin told his host that Russia's close ties with Iran gave it the "opportunity and the obligation" to quash Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has postponed a scheduled visit to Turkey, his spokesman said Thursday, without specifying the reason for the delay or giving the original date for the trip.

"The visit has been postponed, the dates will be agreed upon," Dmitry Peskov told AFP.

Turkish state-run television TRT reported Thursday that a Syrian passenger plane intercepted by Turkey's air force was carrying military communications equipment, as Damascus branded the incident piracy amid growing tensions between the two countries.

Yeni Safak, a newspaper close to the Turkish government, reported there were 10 containers aboard the plane, some containing radio receivers, antennas and "equipment that are thought to be missile parts."

Seven people were killed when overnight torrential rain unleashed heavy flooding in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan, officials said Wednesday.

The flooding in the ancient Caspian Sea city of Derbent affected hundreds of homes with 1,120 people in the affected area, the regional branch of the Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

Russia confirmed on Tuesday signing more than $4.2 billion in arms deals with Iraq during the second half of the year that make it the nation's largest weapons supplier after the United States.

A joint statement issued after talks between visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said the deals were agreed during delegation visits this year and totaled "more than $4.2 billion."

Russia on Friday won an effectively free 30-year extension to military base it leases in Tajikistan to police that country's drug and crime-infested border with Afghanistan.

The agreement valid through 2042 was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Tajik capital Dushanbe for the 60th birthday celebrations of Tajik leader Emomali Rakhmon.

Russian suspects in a U.S. probe into alleged smuggling of high-tech military technology to Russia denied wrongdoing as a senior official accused Washington of reluctance to share expertise.

While Russia's authorities denied any links to an alleged military exports ring, some saw the case as a political time bomb similar in scope to the 2010 spy-swap which involved ten agents including the sultry redhead Anna Chapman.

Russia on Thursday voiced concern at the "deteriorating" situation between Syria and Turkey, where cross-border shelling has heightened tensions.

Turkey resumed fire on Syrian positions on Thursday, reportedly killing several soldiers, in revenge for mortar fire on Wednesday which killed five Turkish civilians.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service blamed Al-Qaida Wednesday for a recent series of deadly forest fires in Europe, saying they were set by arsonists as part of the group's strategy to exhaust its enemies with low-cost attacks.

"One should note that setting fires to forests in the countries of the European Union is a new tendency in Al-Qaida's strategy of a 'thousand cuts'," the state RIA Novosti news agency quoted Alexander Bortnikov as saying at a meeting of heads of security agencies.