Iran and Russia signed an agreement under which the Iranian side will repair Russian planes and supply components for them.
This was reported by the Mehr agency with reference to the Civil Aviation Authority of Iran.
The agreement was signed during the visit of the Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia. It probably happened on July 19, when Putin visited Tehran to meet with President Ibrahim Raisi, the countryʼs Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
The agreement concerns civil aviation. Through it, Russia gets access to repair and maintenance services, technical support and necessary parts for repairing aircraft. Also, the agreement allows the airlines of the two countries to carry out cargo flights without limiting the throughput within the limits of the above-mentioned agreement.
In addition, the parties agreed to increase the number of flights between the countries to 35 per week.
- After the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, the European Union closed the skies for Russian planes, banned the supply of spare parts for them, maintenance, support and insurance, and also obliged leasing companies to return the planes that were leased from Russian carriers. The USA also imposed sanctions on the aviation sector of the Russian Federation.
- In July, it became known that Russian airlines refuse to return more than 400 aircraft and aircraft parts that they leased. These planes cost billions of dollars.
- Iran remains one of Russiaʼs few allies. Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said at the meeting with Putin that Russia opposes NATO in the war against Ukraine. According to him, if Moscow had not invaded Ukraine, the Alliance "itself would have started a war against the Russian Federation."
- On July 11, the United States reported that Iran would soon provide Russia with "up to several hundred UAVs" and train the Russian military to use them. It is about the "Shahid-191" and "Shahid-129" impact missiles. CNN reported that a Russian delegation visited Iran twice to inspect these UAVs. The channel also published a satellite photo taken on the day of the Russiansʼ visit.