Su-35 fighter – © Marina Lystseva/TASS
Russia will supply Iran with dozens of Su-35 multirole fighter jets, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on December 24, citing Western intelligence officials.
The news channel said that Iran could get as many as 24 Su-35s which were originally built for Egypt, in a deal that the United States thwarted. Intelligence reports claim that Iranian pilots have already began training on the advanced fighter jets.
The report comes after Iranian media said in September that Tehran was weighing the purchase of fighter jets from Russia.
The U.S. has been talking about a growing relationship between Iran and Russia involving military equipment since the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine earlier this year. Washington claims that Iran supplied Russia with hundreds of suicide and combat drones in the last few months for use against Kiev forces. However, both Moscow and Tehran deny this.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) is in desperate need for advanced multirole fighter jets like the Su-35. The air force currently relies on American-made fighter jets in the 1970s which were left from the period before the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iran hasn’t acquired any new fighter jets since the 1990s, when it received a few MiG-29s from Russia.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shared the reports on the Su-35 deal on December 28, without confirming or dismissing the claims.
The Su-35 was designed by Russia’s leading Sukhoi Design Bureau to engage all types of aerial targets in long and close ranged air battles as well as to attack ground and sea-surface targets including those covered by air defenses and located far behind the frontline.
The fighter jet can carry a variety of advanced weapons, including the R-37 long-range, hypersonic air-to-air missile and the Kh-59 long-range land-attack cruise missile.
Click to see full-size image.
The Su-35 would boost the capabilities of the IRIAF. However, the alleged deal could lead to tensions between Russia and Israel, who may consider it a violation of the 2015 nuclear agreement and related international sanctions.
With the lack of any confrontation from Russia or Iran, it is possible that the alleged Su-35 deal is a mere propaganda stunt meant to increase pressure on both countries.
