Iran and Russia sitting in a tree…..

A report from the BBC:

The Russian Defence Minister, Igor Sergeyev, begins a three-day visit to Iran on Tuesday, the first of its kind since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The visit comes less than two months after Moscow unilaterally scrapped a five-year-old agreement with the United States not to supply Iran with arms.

Both the Russians and Iran say they are keen to develop military co-operation. However, it is thought unlikely that any specific deals will be concluded on this visit.

This is an important visit for both sides. For Iran, building closer co-operation with Moscow in military and other fields offers a practical way of resisting what it sees as American global hegemony.

For Russia, Iran represents a lucrative arms market and a potentially important ally in a highly strategic area.
However Moscow is defying American wishes in pursuing military ties with Tehran.

In early November, the Russians notified Washington that they were scrapping a secret understanding reached in 1995 not to supply Iran with military hardware such as tanks and submarines.

The US has hinted at trade reprisals against Moscow but nothing has materialised and the Russians are going ahead with this first visit to Tehran by their defence minister since the Islamic Revolution nearly 22 years ago.

Mr Sergeyev’s Iranian counterpart, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, said that prevailing international conditions and the two countries’ strategic locations made close co-operation inevitable.
But Russian officials have said no new deals will be concluded on this visit and are portraying it as largely a fact-finding trip which will enable them to assess the Iranian army.
Mr Sergeyev is to visit military installations as well as holding talks with Iranian military and political leaders.

Despite Russian and Iranian denials, the Americans are convinced that Russian defence institutions are already helping Iran develop long-range missiles such as the recently-announced Shahab III, which has a range of 1300km (800 miles).

The Russians insist they will under no circumstances help Iran to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In fact stopping the proliferation of such weapons is an item on the agenda in the talks, as is co-operation over Afghanistan, whose Taleban regime is heartily disliked by both countries.

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Out of curiosity I thought it might be interesting to speculate on what Russia might sell to Iran and also what Iran might want, need or be able to afford.

I would say that the F-14 upgrade everyone has been talking about so much might finally come to fruition, what about a Su-24 upgrade, several good packages are on offer. The MiG-29s might also get looked at.

With its technical profficiency and positive combat experience Iran might become a regional power again now that it has finally (it seems) found a supplier for military goods. At any rate, I can’t see them buying Chinese aircraft again.