The Obama administration said Thursday that a proposed Russian sale of fighter jets to Iran would violate a United Nations arms embargo on Tehran, setting up another standoff related to last year’s nuclear negotiations.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said transferring the Sukhoi-30 jets, comparable to American F-15E fighter bombers, requires the UN Security Council’s approval.
“The United States will raise the matter with Russia,” Toner said, adding that all six countries that negotiated July’s landmark nuclear agreement with Iran ‘should be fully aware of these restrictions.” The deal kept the arms ban on Iran in place for up to another five years.
Iran’s defense minister said last week that the Islamic Republic would purchase an unspecified number of the Russian planes. General Hossein Dehghan provided no timeline for delivery, but said Iran would be involved in producing the aircraft.
The dispute is the latest linked to the nuclear negotiations that ended in a deal setting long-term limits on Iran’s uranium and plutonium programs in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in future sanctions relief.