Iran has announced the end of a contract with Russia for the purchase of Su-35 fighter jets, the official press agency said, despite US reservations about military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, France-Presse reported, citing Agerpres.

“After the lifting of the UN embargo on the purchase of conventional weapons in October 2020, Iran completed the contract for the purchase of Su-35 fighter jets,” Irna reported with reference to the representation of the Islamic Republic at the UN.

The agency did not provide additional details about the contract, but Iran and Russia have been negotiating for several years to supply Tehran with Russian fighter jets.

The US, Iran’s declared enemy, has threatened tough sanctions against any country that deals with Iranian forces, especially the Revolutionary Guards, the regime’s elite army in Tehran, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organization.

At the same time, Washington expressed concern over a “dangerous” escalation in military cooperation between Iran and Russia, with Tehran accused of supplying drones used in Ukraine, which Iran denies.

What fighters do the Iranian Air Force already have?

Su-35 machines are technically acceptable to Iran, and Russia has announced that it is ready to sell them to the Islamic Republic, IRNA reported.

Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Monday that Tehran was “continuing to purchase” the Su-35, but “has not yet received the equipment”.

The Iranian Air Force already has about 300 Russian (MiG-29 and Su-25), Chinese (F-7), American (F-4, F-5 and F-14) and French (Mirage F-1). as well as several “Saeqeh”, the Iranian version of the American F-5, according to experts.

In 2007, Tehran and Moscow signed a contract for the supply of the Russian S-300 anti-missile system, but in 2010 Moscow suspended the sale due to the application of a UN Security Council resolution against Iran’s nuclear program.

In 2015, shortly before the conclusion of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, Moscow again authorized the delivery of some S-300 systems.

Iran’s Ministry of Defense announced in May 2016 that its country now “possesses the strategic S-300 system.”