Delivery of Su-35SE to Iran might be cancelled?

On 18 July 2023, the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), Brig Gen Vahedi, reported that the General Staff of the Armed Forces opposed to the procurement of the Sukhoi Su-35SE Flanker-E.

The reason for this statement is that the Russian government refuses the transfer of technology for production of their parts in Iran and to provide the knowledge for maintaining the aircraft domestically for the next 30 years. Russia wants to sell the aircraft that were originally intended for the al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya Il Misriya (EAF, Egyptian Air Force) without proper maintenance, weapons and spare part support.

Although not confirmed, it seems that Russia has also responded negatively to a request from the Iranian government for the supply of Su-35SE simulators and an order for twelve Su-30SME2 two-seat multirole combat aircraft.

Looking at the above statements, Scramble Magazine assesses that Russia is not able to meet Iran's demand mainly because of internal obligations related to the war with Ukraine. It makes sense that Iran has no faith in going further with the procurement.

On 14 September 2022, Scramble Magazine first wrote that the Iranian minister of Defence confirmed that Iran will receive the Su-35SE.

Source: Babak Taghvaee / Photo (just illustrative) by Vyacheslav Grushnikov (via russianplanes.net)