Monitoring Desk
TEHRAN: Iran has finalized a deal to buy Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, state media reported on Saturday, as defense cooperation between the two countries deepens.
Iran’s sanctions-hit air force has an aging fleet of aircraft jets and has struggled to acquire spare parts to keep its aircraft in the air.
In a statement to the United Nations (UN), Tehran said it began approaching “countries to buy fighter jets” to replenish its air fleet in the wake of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.
“Russia announced it was ready to sell fighter jets” after the expiry in October 2020 of restrictions on Iran purchasing conventional weapons under United Nations Resolution 2231, said the statement carried late Friday by the state IRNA news agency.
“The Russian Sukhoi 35 fighter jets were technically acceptable for Iran,” the statement added.
Tehran has forged strong relations with Moscow in several sectors, including the military, in 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying Russia with Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones used in targeting civilians since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — an allegation the Islamic republic denies.
US concern over Iran-Russia growing military cooperation
The US has expressed concern over the growing military cooperation between Russia and Iran. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby warned that Russia was likely to sell its fighter jets to Iran.
The Pentagon spokesman maintained that Iranian pilots had reportedly been learning to fly the Sukhoi fighter jets in Russia and that Tehran may receive the jets within the next year, which would “massively strengthen Iran’s air force compared to its regional neighbors.”
Iran currently has mostly Russian Sukhoi and MiG fighter jets that date back to the Soviet Union era and some Chinese aircraft, including the F-7 jets.
Some American-made F-4 and F-5 fighter jets dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution are also part of Iran’s fleet.
The United States started reimposing sanctions on Iran in 2019, a year after its unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement under then-president Donald Trump.
The 2015 nuclear agreement gave Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its suspect nuclear program.
