On March 11, Tehran officials agree to purchase Russian aerodynes as defense collaboration increases. As defense cooperation between the two nations intensifies, the official media has claimed that Iran has finalized an agreement to purchase Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. The sanctions-hit aviation force Iran’s aircraft inventory is getting older, and the country has had trouble finding replacement components to keep its warplanes flying.

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As military cooperation grows, Tehran authorities decide to buy Russian aerodynes on March 11. According to official media reports, Iran has finalized a deal to buy Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft as military collaboration between the two countries grows.
The aviation service is under penalty. Iran’s fleet of aircraft is aging, and the nation has had a difficult time locating replacement parts to maintain its fighters in the skies.

Recent agreements between Tehran and Moscow
Over the past year, Iran and Russia have bolstered their relationships in a number of fields, and Iran has even given Russia the Shahed-136 kamikaze drones that Russian troops are using to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Iran has disputed sending the supplies to Moscow shortly after the outbreak of the large-scale assault in the month of February 2022, regardless of the irrefutable proof of their existence.
The United States applied restrictions in the month of November against organizations and people engaged in the manufacture and exportation of Iranian reconnaissance aircraft to Moscow. Iran has also received restrictions from the European Union as well as Canada because it provided suicide drones to Russia.

Russia and Iran expand their defense cooperation
Iranian pilots were allegedly training to operate Sukhoi jets in Moscow, which the US military cautioned against in the month of December.
Iran finalizes agreement to purchase Sukhoi-35 from Russia in order to update its outdated fighter aircraft inventory.
In the past year, there have been indications that Iran and Russia’s military relations are strengthening. Iran is charged by Kyiv with supplying Moscow with Shahed-136 drones called “kamikaze” that were used in strikes against Ukrainian installations.
According to the state broadcast service, a contract to purchase Sukhoi-35 fighter jets from Russia has been settled. This could assist Iran in updating its aging fighter aircraft fleet, for which it has found it difficult to obtain spare components since the introduction of global restrictions.
Post Iran-Iraq War
After the Iran-Iraq conflict of 1980–88, Tehran claimed in an open letter to the UN that it contacted “countries for the purchase of fighter warplanes” to restock its aircraft inventory.
According to a statement published late on Friday by a reliable news agency, Moscow confirmed that it was “preparing to market them” when the United Nations Resolution 2231’s ban on Tehran acquiring conventional arsenals expires in October 2020.
It continued, “The Sukhoi 35 attack aircraft were legitimately suitable for Tehran.”
In the preceding year, there have been indications that Tehran and Russian defense ties are strengthening. Iran is charged by Kyiv with supplying Russia with Shahed-136 drones called “kamikaze” that were used in strikes against Ukrainian military installations.

US having sleepless nights as Russia and Iran defense ties deepen
The increasing arms deal between Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran is alarming the US government. The US military representative John Kirby warned in the month of December that Moscow appeared likely to give Iran its combat planes.
According to Kirby, Sukhoi fighters may be delivered to Tehran within a year’s time, and this might “considerably improve Iran’s air defense compared to its immediate neighbors” and allow Iranian aircrew to undergo training in Russia.
Iran presently possesses mostly Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi combat planes from Russia, alongside several F-7 jets from China.
Its arsenal also includes American F-4 and F-5 fighter aircraft manufactured before the jihad of 1979.
Way Forward
Since the hardline Ebrahim Raisi administration took office in August 2021, Russia has invested about 2.5 billion dollars in two crude developments in the western part of the province of Ilam.
Numerous influential meetings have taken place, and numerous deals have been made to increase commerce and joint defense between both sides.

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