Iran announced the completion of the procedure for the purchase of the Su-35 from Russia

Iran has completed the purchase of Russian Su-35 fighter jets. This was reported on Saturday by the Iranian state television IRIB with reference to the permanent representation of Iran at the UN.

“Iran turned to a number of countries with a request to study the possibility of selling fighter jets to Iran, and Russia gave a positive response to this request,” the message says. The embassy did not inform about the terms of the contract, when it was concluded and how many combat aircraft will be delivered. The Turkish agency Anadolu with reference to the Iranian mass media writes that we are talking about 24 fighter jets. The same number was previously mentioned by the Israeli 12th channel – according to it, it refers to combat vehicles that were initially supposed to be sold to Egypt.

Reuters notes that Iran now has only a few dozen combat aircraft in service, and the basis of the Air Force is still American aircraft, delivered before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Iran also has Soviet and Russian-made aircraft in service – primarily the MiG-29 and Su-24. If delivered, the Su-35 will become the most modern aircraft in Iran’s service. Iranian mass media claim that the Russian fighter “is one of the most powerful fighters of the fourth generation and above in the world.” The White House warned that the supply of Russian fighters could change the balance of power in the region.

IRIB reports that after the removal of UN sanctions on the country, which prohibited the supply of weapons to Tehran, Iran conducted negotiations on the purchase of fighter jets with several other unnamed countries. Shahryar Heydari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said in an interview with the Tasnym agency in January of this year that agreements had been reached with Russia. He then said that the delivery of fighters could take place already in the spring.

In recent months, against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Moscow and Tehran have intensified their security cooperation. In December, a representative of the US President Joe Biden’s administration told reporters that cooperation between Russia and Iran in the military sphere had reached an “unprecedented level.”

Tehran – as Kyiv and Western countries claim, Russia and Iran deny it – supplies Moscow with combat drones that the Russian army uses in Ukraine. It was reported that the Iranian military, which arrived on the annexed territory of Ukraine, was helping the Russian army with them.

• Su-34 fighter-bombers have been used by the Russian army since 2014 and are actively offered for export. The planes are designed to deliver rocket-bomb strikes deep into the enemy’s territory. In the war with Ukraine, Russia uses them on a limited scale due to the saturation of the Ukrainian army with anti-aircraft defense systems.