US Would Not ‘Approve’ of Russian Fighter Jets Sale to Iran - Kerry

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Su-30SM fighter jet - Sputnik International
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The United States intends to oppose the potential sale of Russia's fighter jets to Iran, US Secretary of State John Kerry said at the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier, it was reported that Moscow and Tehran would sign a contract on the delivery of Russian Su-30SM multirole fighters to Iran this year.

"It’s a matter of the [United Nations Security Council] committee… it is in approval in the committee, but we would not approve it," Kerry stated when asked whether the United States would oppose the sale of Russian fighter jets to Iran.

A high-ranking official in the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told RIA Novosti on February 17 that a contract for the delivery of Russian Su-34SM Flanker multirole fighters to Iran will be signed in 2016.

On February 11, a source in the Iranian Defense Ministry told Sputnik that the country’s defense minister planned to discuss Iran’s need for the jets, and hopefully sign a procurement contract for them during his visit to Moscow.

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The Su-30SM, commissioned in 2013-2014, is a two-seat derivative of the Su-27UB jet, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground strikes and can be equipped with a wide variety of precision-guided munitions.

Russia and Iran stepped up their military cooperation last year after Tehran reached a deal with six world powers to scale back its nuclear research in exchange for an easing of sanctions against it.

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