Russian-made combat trainer aircraft joins Iran’s Air Force

Iran's news agencies are reporting that a Russian-made YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft is in the country and has joined the Air Force.

The report by ISNA said the advanced combat trainer aircraft is able to meet the training needs of pilots to learn to fly 4th-generation fighters.

In April, Iran announced that it had finalised a deal to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia.

Iran and Russia have a close relationship, especially in military equipment.

Iranian drones have been a key element of Russia's continued war on Ukraine. Tehran has offered a series of contradictory explanations about the drones, first denying it supplied them to Moscow and then claiming it sold drones only before the war began.

However, the volume of drones used in the conflict shows a steady supply by Iran of the bomb-carrying weapons in the war.

In June, the White House said Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry.