The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force wants to buy 24 Su-35 fighters, which were originally destined for Egypt, to start renewing its aging fleet of fighter jets.
Brig. Gen. Amir Hamid Vahedi, commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), gave an interview to a correspondent of Borna News Agency, in which he stated that the purchase of Sukhoi Su-35 fighters from Russia is on the Air Force’s agenda.
During the interview, he also confirmed that the IRIAF has no plans for now to purchase Sukhoi Su-30 heavy multirole fighters, with all efforts focused on the addition of Su-35s. «This item is on the agenda (the Su-35s) and we hope to be able to obtain these generation 4++ fighters in the future,» Hamid Vahedi commented.
The Air Force Commander also emphasized that the final decision on the purchase of Sukhoi 35 fighter jets from Russia rests with the Air Force Command and the General Staff Command of the Armed Forces.
Egyptian for Persian
Egypt was to become the first customer for the Su-35 in the Middle East area, following the signing of a contract during 2018 (not confirmed until May 2020), comprising the delivery of 24/26 units for approximately USD 3 billion. In fact, 15 or 16 aircraft had been manufactured and were ready for delivery, but Egypt never received them.
The First Egyptian Su-35 start the flight trials.#Egipt #Russia #Sukhoy #Su35 #Су35 pic.twitter.com/Ls01mVgEq3
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔇𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) July 23, 2020
The threat of U.S. sanctions prevented Cairo from completing the deal for the Russian fighters, choosing instead to reinforce its fleet with French Dassault Rafale fighters.
Since Egypt had already paid and the planes had been built, the contract could not be canceled. But Cairo authorized United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to resell them on its behalf. And now the most likely customer appears to be Iran.
Mega defense deal
This is not the first time that Iran has been mentioned as the future home of the ex-Egyptian Su-35s. In December 2021, media sources had announced that by early 2022, Tehran and Moscow were to sign a 20-year, $10 billion security and defense cooperation agreement, which would include the purchase of Su-35 fighters, S-400 missiles and a satellite.
See also: Russian/Iranian defense agreement for Su-35 and more, to be signed soon
It is currently unknown if the agreement was signed or not, or if it was simply not made public. But according to media reports, the IRIAF has already selected 30 pilots of F-14A Tomcat, MiG-29 Fulcrum and F-4E Phantom II to be sent to Russia to receive training to operate the Su-35.
A credible indicator that Russian heavy fighters will end up protecting Iranian skies is the recent agreement in place whereby Iran will supply Russia with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles for use in the Ukrainian theater of operations.
US national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, during a press briefing had unveiled this news by commenting, «Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to supply Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs, on an accelerated timeline,» Sullivan said. «It is unclear whether Iran has already delivered any of these UAVs to Russia.»
See also: Iran set to send hundreds of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine
Regardless of the sanctions imposed on both countries, and the other agreements at stake (such as the nuclear deal with Iran), everything seems to indicate that the relationship between Moscow and Tehran is being cemented and that sooner rather than later, the modernization of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Air Force will begin, hand in hand with Russia… and probably China as well.
