Ali Shadmani, deputy coordinator of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (KCHG), has confirmed that the theocratic regime has purchased Sukhoi-35 fighter jets from Russia. The KCHG is the central entity in the command chain of Iran’s armed forces, making operational military decisions and coordinating between Iran’s conventional army (Artesh) and the IRGC. The Islamic Republic indicated in November 2023 that Tehran had finalized a deal to acquire the fighters from Vladimir Putin, following the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between the two countries. The agreement focused on Iran and Russia developing “military-technical cooperation," including collaboration on nuclear issues. It appears that the fighter jets may now have been delivered. The Iranians were already supplying Putin with Shahed-136 kamikaze drones for use in his illegal war in Ukraine and there is increasing concern in the West that the mullahs are strengthening ties with Russia to rebuild their armed forces.
Following devastating losses in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian regime announced that it was seeking to conclude a deal to purchase Sukhoi 35 fighter jets from Russia. Until now, the Iranian air force has been limited to a few dozen strike aircraft, including some aging MiG Russian jets and some very old US F-4 and F-5 planes acquired prior to the 1979 revolution. Due to intensive sanctions, there has been no ability to secure spare parts for the U.S. aircraft. According to Admiral John Kirby, former Biden-administration White House National Security Communications Advisor, Iranian pilots had been training in Sukhoi fighter jets for some time. He said the acquisition of the Sukhoi 35 jets would “significantly strengthen Iran’s air force relative to its regional neighbors.” Now the IRGC has boasted that it has deployed missiles featuring artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In a report in Iranian state media last week, an IRGC spokesman claimed the organization’s naval force had “fired Ghaem and Almas missiles equipped with artificial intelligence from advanced Mohajer-6 and Ababil-5 drones,” during military drills.
The IRGC senior commander Shadmani said the regime had also repaired defense systems damaged by Israel during the October 26, 2024, airstrikes on Iranian military targets. Although the mullahs claimed that the Israeli strikes had caused “limited damage,” it is believed that the complete inadequacy of the theocratic regime’s defenses were exposed by Israel. The direct confrontation between Iran and Israel came on top of the effective decapitation of the mullahs’ ‘axis of resistance,’ involving the crushing of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The Axis of Resistance is down to militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East.
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The Iranian regime is now weaker than at any time since the 1979 revolution that was hijacked by the mullahs to seize power. Its former attempts to portray itself as the leading opponent of Israel and America in the Middle East now lies in tatters. There is widespread, simmering fury from the nation’s 95 million population, at a corrupt and tyrannical regime that has poured resources into conflicts abroad while many Iranians face unemployment and struggle with high inflation.
There are fears that stripped of its axis of resistance, the mullahs may now try to accelerate their clandestine nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon and the ballistic missile system necessary for its deployment. The IRGC’s aerospace force controls the regime’s nuclear program, which has been focused on developing a nuclear bomb from the outset. The weaponization aspect of Iran's nuclear activities has not only persisted but has also expanded and improved over time, all while avoiding significant international scrutiny.
In the summer of 2024, Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), told an agency Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, that IAEA inspectors had been denied access to Iran for over three years. He warned that the mullahs have continued to increase their stockpile of enriched uranium, much of which is now at 60 percent purity, a hair’s breadth away from weapons grade. The mullahs had also removed many of the surveillance cameras erected by the IAEA’s inspectors.
The mullahs are masters of deception. Iran's nuclear negotiations with the West have spanned over two decades, and there have been numerous instances where Iran's actions contradicted its commitments. The Iranian regime’s repeated breaches of promises and violations of obligations during the protracted nuclear talks were renowned. They exploited the negotiations to buy time. Iran's failure to fully disclose its nuclear activities has been a recurring issue, including hiding critical sites, equipment, and activities from the IAEA. It has maintained covert networks to procure materials and technology for its nuclear and missile programs, often circumventing international sanctions. Iran’s nuclear diplomacy has followed a pattern of agreeing to temporary concessions or suspensions in exchange for sanctions relief, only to later breach those commitments once it has secured economic or political advantages.
Despite promising to limit its nuclear activities, Iran has consistently advanced its nuclear program in secret, making substantial progress toward a nuclear weapons capability. The pattern of behavior has led to the perception that Iran uses negotiations as a strategic tool to delay international action while continuing to pursue its nuclear ambitions. Given this long history of violations, any future Iranian overtures to engage with the West should be regarded as a deadly mistake for the future peace and security of the world.
Mounting international concern at the Iranian regime’s efforts to re-arm must not lead to renewed appeasement and lifting of sanctions, which is exactly what the mullahs want. The US, EU, UK and UN must back the Iranian people in their campaign to overthrow the theocratic regime and restore freedom, democracy, justice and peace to the region and to the wider world.
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