More weopons for Irak. ultimately it will create a military force that will rely solely on Russian weopons and intelligence.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iraq-signs-collaboration-deal-with-russia-iran-syria-on-isis-fight-1443369993
Baghdad is currently negotiating with Moscow to buy more advanced weaponry.

i thought a number of sanctions were lifted in july no.

the SSJ makes more sense for Iran than Su-30s.. the sanctions really limited how they acquire commercial aircraft, and Russia hasn’t produced anything new or competitive in the commercial sector in decades.
a new airliner, even though its a baby fart size, is much needed to generate income.

superjet width, comfort level and range practically match A-319/320. and since Boeing/Airbus has produciton backlog. this is the quickest way of inducting a new civil airliner. but i wont put too much into deals as those things will more disinformation for time being.

The question is whether India would allow such license transfer as some vital systems in the Su-30SM are Indian. Originally, the Su-30MKI as a father of all IAZ version also has Israeli systems installed but these were removed with the dawn of the Su-30MKM.

IMHO, Su-30MK2 does not provide enough of a qualitative jump for IRIAF.

how do you know Su-30MK2 does not provide enough. It will lift the same big EW pods for protection.. it will lighter due to lack of canards and TVC. I think radar is same ability like Su-27SM. Middleast is target rich flat desert environment radar does not play that much role. Satellites plays much bigger role that’s why Saudi in previous Yemen war ask France for satellite intelligence.
it is not jungles with lots of trees.

This the most ineffective way of fighting operations. For example Turkey dithering around buying its air defence system. so USAF will need to bring its own airdefence system and that limited to only one airbase. and every air defence system need to be layered against smallest PGM to highest speed BM. this air defence system need to be constantly updated which so called allies will not be able to afford both technically and financially. once you bring personal to overseas for every thing. it raise the costs. and most of Middleast is not buying yet. so its value to future wars is limited.

But can they even afford large investments into military aircraft now with their economy in shambles and low oil prices, plus the financial help to Syrian and Iraqi regimes? Given the strength of the Saudi air force, they would need to buy decent numbers to make any difference and then there’s training, maintenance, all new weapons, etc.

Iran provide aircorridor for Russia supplies to Irak and Syria. Russia will simply not tolerate any one messing with that corridor. Saudi will find itself against MIG-31BM/A-50U soon if they tried. the best bet for Iran in short term is to improve BM technology. or introduce land attack version of Brahmos/Yakhont missile.
Wars in Middleast are fought from few large air conditioned airbases. once those are out of actions the effectiveness of airforce goes down a lot.

It remain to be seen how war in yemen will be supported.

http://www.ibtimes.com/putins-latest-moves-military-alliance-among-iran-hezbollah-russia-syria-could-spread-2113386

Not to **** on your cornflakes but…
You
http://www.sipri.org/databases/embargoes/un_arms_embargoes/iran

I am skeptical about this UN resolution. Looks to me giving cover for agreement . It will be ignored in due time if not already. Just technology and intelligence sharing will make it ineffective.

Such disputes are always about leverage. Back then China was still a major defence market for Russia, and China in turn still depended on Russia for much of its higher end gear. Today China’s annual defence imports are minuscule ($2bn out of ~$150bn) as its domestic systems continue to replace imported ones, though compared to other countries that amount is still substantial.

The last vestiges of its dependence on Russia (such as the AL-31) will also fade and fairly soon at that. At that point, the only obstacle will be a political one. There too the equation is tilted heavily in China’s favour.

Don’t forget the 200 RD-93 for JF-17 and and all the helicopter imported by China and Pakistan. And all the D-30 engines and upgrades to them. They used on IL-78m, Y-20, IL-76, bomber etc. Country with weak heavy engg skills will always be dependent.