Iran, Russia Inching Closer to Su-30 Fighter Jet Deal
Iran’s defense minister recently announced
that Moscow has accepted Tehran’s conditions for a possible fighter jet deal.
December
01, 2016
Iran and Russia are
reportedly moving closer in concluding a possible contract for the
co-production of an undisclosed number of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 multirole
fighter aircraft, Iranian Defense Minister General Hossein Dehghan told local
media over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters
in Tehran on November 26, the defense minister said that “the purchasing of the
fighter jets is on the Defense Ministry’s agenda,” the Tehran Times reports. “Any sort of cooperation with the selling side should
be conditioned upon technological partnership and joint investment,” the
minister further elaborated.
Iran’s Tasnim
News Agency reports that Russia allegedly has agreed to the
minister’s terms. Russia’s defense ministry has so far neither confirmed nor
denied the Iranian minister’s statement. In August 2016, Dehghan announced that
both sided were holding consultations over a possible aircraft purchase.
“We don’t need other
long-range air defense systems (in addition to the S-300 and Bavar-373); we no
longer plan to purchase them. Therefore, the Iranian Defense Ministry’s agenda
includes consultations with Russia on the purchase of Sukhoi aircraft. We need
to strengthen our Air Force,” Dehghan said on Iranian TV at
the time.
Russia is currently in the process of delivering S-300PMU-2 Favorite long-range
surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries to Iran.
Should the deal go
through, Iran would be the second country after India to locally manufacture
the Su-30SM is a 4++ generation multipurpose fighter aircraft. Iran and Russia
reportedly first deliberated over a possible Su-30 fighter jet deal in the
summer of 2015 during the MAKS airshow, held near Moscow.
Nevertheless, as I
noted elsewhere (See: “Iran and Russia Negotiating $10 Billion Arms Deal”):
[T]he United States
has made clear that it will block any sales of offensive military weapons from
Russia to Iran. In April, a senior U.S. official testified that Washington
would block any sale of Russian fighter jets to Iran. “We would block the
approval of fighter aircraft,” Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state
for political affairs, said. “We’ve got a commitment … from the Russians in
terms of working to prohibit the transfer of technologies to Iran’s ballistic
missile program.”
Under the so-called
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international agreement on the
nuclear program of Iran signed in July 2015 that went into effect in January
2016, the UN arms embargo will be lifted by October 2020. Any offensive weapons
deals with Iran prior to that date, including the sale of combat aircraft, will
have to be approved by the UN Security Council.
Original post:
thediplomat.com
Confirmed:
Iran and Russia to Co-Produce Su-30 Fighter Jet
Iran’s defense minister revealed that Tehran
is set to receive the Su-30 fighter jet at an undisclosed future date.
February
14, 2016
During a recent
television interview, Iran’s Defense Minister, General Hossein Dehqhan, announced that
Iran will sign a contract with Russia for the co-production of an undisclosed
number of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter aircraft, Fars
News Agency reports.
Should the deal go
through, Iran will be the second country in the world after India to produce a
variation of the Su-30 fighter jet locally. However, as of now, it still
remains unclear in what capacity Tehran will be involved in the aircraft
production process.
According to a source
within Iran’s Defense Ministry interviewed by Sputnik News, a contract could be signed as early as
February 16, when the Iranian defense minister will arrive in Moscow to discuss
the deliveries of S-300 air defense systems and the Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft.
“Minister Dehgan is
taking a number of the Defense Ministry’s representatives to the
Russian capital to meet with their Russian colleagues and other
highly-ranked officials,” the source notes.
“The last stages will
be discussed of delivering Iran the S-300 complex, the first part
of which should arrive before the end of next month, and the
second by the end of June. Minister Dehqwan will also discuss the
delivery of Su-30 airplanes because the Defense Ministry believes the
Iranian Air Force needs this type of plane. We’ve moved far in these
discussions of purchases and I think that during the upcoming visit a
contract will be signed,” according to the source.
First rumors about a
likely Iranian-Russian Su-30 deal emerged already in the summer of 2015 during
the MAKS airshow, held near Moscow. “We are discussing the purchase of
Sukhoi fighter planes,” Dehqhan told Iran’s Press TV back then.
However, Iran’s
Vice-President for Science and Technology Affairs, Sorena Sattari, who was also
present during the discussions, downplayed the talks at the time: “We spoke about
it but we didn’t discuss purchasing them and talks were mostly focused on the
technological issues.”
As I explained
previously (See: “Will Iran License-Build Russia’s T-90S Main Battle Tank?”):
Under the so-called
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOP), an international agreement on the
nuclear program of Iran signed in July 2015, the UN arms embargo will be lifted
5 years after the JCOP adoption day. However, conventional weapons sales can be
decided on a case-by-case basis meanwhile. “During the five years arms
deliveries to Iran would be possible if they clear a notification and
verification process in the UN Security Council,” according to Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
It is unclear what
variant of the Sukhoi Su-30 Iran is interested in, nor how many aircraft it
wants to procure and within what timeframe. During his recent television
interview, General Hossein Dehqhan, also rejected the idea of
procuring Chengdu J-10 lightweight multirole fighter aircraft from China.
Source: thediplomat.com
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