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  6.  » Russia to send Iran top fighter jets in return for kamikaze drones

Josie Ensor – The Telegraph Dec 9, 2022

Russian Su-35S Flanker-E.

Iran is to receive top-of-the-range fighter jets from Russia “within the next year” in exchange for the kamikaze drones sent to the battlefield in Ukraine, US sources said on Friday night.

Downing Street and the White House warned that the new “sordid deals” amount to a “large scale military partnership” between Tehran and Moscow.

The US later warned that Russia was expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal, already the largest in the world.

Russia is planning to send Tehran advanced military equipment and components, including helicopters and air defence systems, US intelligence sources said.

Biden administration officials said Iranian pilots were already being trained in Russia on how to fly the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet, indicating Iran “may begin receiving the aircraft within the next year.”

Speculation has swirled that Moscow may redirect some 24 SU-35 jets currently grounded in Russia after an Egyptian order for them was cancelled.

The fighter jets would represent a significant modernisation of Iran’s aging air force and would increase the threat posed by Iran across the Middle East and to Israel.

It came as the Ministry of Defence said on Friday that new Iranian drones were appearing in Ukraine, causing fresh havoc on the battlefield.

The White House said the Iran-Russia relationship is transforming into “a full-fledged defence partnership” with weapons and military expertise flowing in both directions, the officials said.

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