A U.S. official confirmed Tuesday that Washington would not allow Russia to sell its Su-30 fighter jets to Iran.
Thomas Shannon, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said the U.S. would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block the sale of any of the warplanes to Iran.
“We would block the approval of fighter aircraft,” he told a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, noting that any such sale would have to be approved by the Security Council, Reuters reported.
The Su-30 is an advanced fighter aircraft built for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions.
Mr. Shannon said that the purchase of Su-30 is prohibited under the U.N. Security Council resolution, which endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and five world powers in July.
But some diplomats say the resolution, which blocks Iran from taking any actions to build up its ballistic missile program, does not prohibit the Islamic Republic from buying fighter jets.
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