In this Ukrainian war, Iran can be said to be Russia's biggest political and military friend. It not only provided Russia with a large number of artillery shells, but also provided a large number of suicide drones, and even helped Russia build factories in its own territory to produce unmanned drones. It stands to reason that Russia should reciprocate. It should not be a problem to sell Su-35 fighter jets to Iran. However, the agreement reached a year ago has twists and turns. The fighter jets originally planned to be delivered in March have not yet been seen.
Iran urgently needs new fighter jets like the Su-35. The current Iranian Air Force is outdated and uses fighter jets purchased from the United States during the Pahlavi dynasty. The best fighter is the F-14 Tomcat, commonly known as the Persian Cat, which has been retired by the United States. There are still many F-4 and F-5 fighter fleets left. Iran announced in 2018 that it had begun production of the Kowsar fighter jet, an aircraft designed domestically, which is believed to be a replica of the F-5.
With the current strength of the Iranian Air Force, there is no threat to Israel. Israel can dispatch F-35 fighter jets from its homeland to carry out precise strikes on any military targets in Iran, leaving Iran powerless to fight back. However, if Iran obtains the Su-35 fighter jet, it is still inferior to Israel's F-35 fighter jet, but it will also greatly enhance the threat to Israel.
The Su-35 is a very fast and highly maneuverable fighter with a very long range, high altitude capability and heavy armament. It poses a great threat to the West’s fourth generation fighters, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, F-15C or F/A-18E Super Hornet. However it is no match for the stealthiness of the American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
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