Reports: Iran to buy jets from Russia
August 01, 2007
By Christopher Holton
The reported Russian sale of Su-30 aircraft and aerial refueling tankers to the Islamic Republic of Iran is a very serious development.
This development demonstrates two things:
1. Getting Russia to help with UN sanctions is a pipe dream. The Russians don’t give those birds away. Iran’s paying for them.
They sell Iran nuclear technology. They sell Iran weapons. They drill for oil in Iran. They are capitalists now and if they can make money off of selling weapons to our enemies, they are doubly happy to do so. In the absence of true international sanctions which, thanks to our Russian and Chinese friends, will be impossible, a divestment program offers the greatest leverage against the Iranian regime.
2. Narrow divestment which only targets Iran’s energy sector completely misses these deals. The Russians are capitalists with stock exchanges now. Sukhoi, or some of its subcontractors for avionics and other components, almost surely trades on an exchange. But under the Iran-energy sector only model, they can sell Iran 250 advanced fighter bombers and not be targeted.
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