Iran Puts Finishing Touches On Deal to Buy Su-35 Fighter Jets From Russia

On March 10, 2023, Iran and Russia put the finishing touches on an agreement to buy Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft from Russia.

“Following the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Iran asked a bunch of countries to review the possibility of selling fighter jets to Iran and Russia said it was ready for their sale,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said  to Russia’s Sputnik news agency on March 10.

“The Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets are technically acceptable to Iran. So after October 2020 and the end of Iran’s restrictions on conventional weapons purchases (based on the UN Security Council Resolution 2231), Iran has finally agreed to buy them,” the diplomatic mission continued.

Interestingly, Press TV reported that the diplomatic mission did not give specifics to the time that the deal was made, nor the time Russia would send the fighter aircraft to Iran. It also provided no more details about the deal due to their classified nature. 

Back in April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree, setting the stage for the delivery of the S-300 long-range air defense systems to Iran. Russia officially supplied the first set of the S-300 air defense system to Iran in 2016.

This is the latest move in an ever-growing bilateral relationship between the two Eurasian countries. Historically rivals, Russia and Iran have bolstered ties in the post-Cold War era due to their mutually shared interests of containing transnational Sunni fundamentalist terroristic threats — that are largely funded by the US and its Collective West satrapies — and keeping the Collective West in check in the Eurasian geopolitical space. Plus, the heavy sanctions imposed on those nations by the Collective West have only strengthened their bonds. 

As the US grows more ornery on the world stage and starts pursuing more hawkish action against the likes of China, Iran, and Russia, a de facto Eurasian triumvirate will emerge among these three nations. It will be designed to balance against US encroachments in the region. 

Unfortunately, policymakers in the US are stuck in the unipolar mindset and don’t see how their policy actions abroad are creating a veritable geopolitical Legion of Doom to challenge it.

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