Tehran and Moscow are cooperating on the development of Iranian aviation, the relevant agreements between the countries have already been reached, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Khatami said on Monday.
"We have important agreements with Russia to develop the [Iranian] Air Force," ISNA quoted him as saying. The minister added that Iran "has military [cooperation] agreements at a new stage after the arms embargo [against Tehran] has been lifted with China and Russia".
At the same time, the military noted that "Iran by no means wants an arms race that would turn the region into a barrel of gunpowder. "We are ready to sign a military agreement with the Persian Gulf countries to establish regional stability," he said.
The embargo on supplies to Iran, as well as the export of conventional weapons from that country, expired on Sunday. That day marked exactly five years since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to address the situation around Iran's nuclear program and the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which established a time-bound closure, came into effect.
The United States has opposed the lifting of the arms embargo on Iran over the past few months. On September 21, Washington imposed its own sanctions on the sale of weapons to Tehran. US leader Donald Trump signed a decree on restrictive measures against those who would be involved in supplying Iran with "nuclear technologies, technologies [production] of ballistic missiles and conventional weapons".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS