Russia will sign a contract agreeing to sell and deliver Sukhoi multi-role fighter jets to Iran sometime this year, the RIA news agency said quoting a senior official of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.

“Iran has actually expressed its interest in the purchase of an order of Su30SM fighters, but so far the parties are only discussing the issue in negotiations. The contract will be signed this year” the Senior official said.

The announcement follows recent news of Russia sending S-300 missile systems to Iran, for which the Iranian defence minister – Hassan Dehghan who is currently in Moscow – will be attending a launching ceremony dedicated to the delivering of the systems on Thursday.