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.
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.