Iran inks military deal with Russia; Sukhoi - 35 on order as ties between the two deepen

In a boost for the Iranian Air Force, Tehran has sealed a deal with Moscow for the supply of the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets as defence cooperation and ties between the two nations intensify and deepens, according to the Times of Israel. "Moscow is ready to deliver the fighter jets to Iran," the country's mission to the United Nations was quoted as saying in the official IRNA. 

"Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets were technically approved by the Iranian aviation experts, and therefore... Iran finalised the contract to buy those planes," it said.

But Moscow did not immediately confirm the agreement. According to a statement released late Friday, March 10, by the official IRNA news agency, "Russia announced it was ready to sell them" when UN Resolution 2231's ban on Iran obtaining conventional weapons expires in October 2020.

Ukraine has accused Iran of supplying Russia with drones

"The Sukhoi 35 fighter jets were technically acceptable for Iran," it added. In the past year, Tehran and Moscow have developed close military and other cooperation.

According to Al Arabiya News, Kiev has accused Tehran of giving Moscow Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drones that have been used in strikes on civilian targets since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of last year. Iran has denied the claim. The burgeoning military collaboration between Iran and Russia has alarmed the United States. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in December that Russia appeared likely to supply Tehran with its fighter jets.

Boost to defence cooperation between Tehran and Moscow

Early in the year, sources said that Iran had ordered twenty-four of Russia's most modern jets as well as other military equipment such as air defence systems, missile systems, and helicopters. Iran presently possesses largely Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia as well as some F-7 aircraft from China.

Its fleet also includes American F-4 and F-5 fighter jets manufactured before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 2019, a year after unilaterally exiting the Iran nuclear deal under then-president Donald Trump, the United States started reimposing sanctions on Iran.

In exchange for limitations on its shady nuclear programme, Iran received a reprieve from international sanctions under the 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.