OPINION:
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan told Iran TV on Sunday evening that the Islamic republic will negotiate to buy Sukhoi fighter and attack aircraft from Russia as the S-300 buy is nearing its end.
“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,” he said.
Iran is actively developing its own missile defenses (Bavar-373) in addition to purchasing Russian systems. “At the request of the President (of Iran Hassan Rouhani), the first test will be intercepting a ballistic missile. If the tests prove successful, the system will go into serial production, and its combat deployment will begin before the end of the year”, the minister said.
Iran has also discussed with Russia the production licensing of the Russian T-90 tank inside Iran. The focus of the Iranian government seems to be acquiring the capability and technology to produce the systems in-country rather than depending on the mood of the Kremlin to sell Iran weapons.
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