Iran Plans to Buy Chinese J-10C Instead of Russian Su-35

[Dalit]

wow. so basically typhoon going against J10C or Jf17 Blk3 will get its arse handed over in current configuration. How long Typhoon is in service! its a shocker.

The West has been to underestimating China severely.

 

[Pakistan Space Agency]

... 3. Economic hardship – Severe sanctions have left Iran short of the foreign currency needed for a multi-billion-dollar purchase. ...

Without making any noise, China very recently rolled over some of Pakistan's debt in Yuans rather than in dollar.

If Iran accepts, China could do business with Iran in Yuans too.

 

[chinasun]

Without making any noise, China very recently rolled over some of Pakistan's debt in Yuans rather than in dollar.

If Iran accepts, China could do business with Iran in Yuans too.

China and Iran began settling transactions in renminbi as early as 2012.
China buying oil from Iran with yuan

 

[Trailer23]

The claim that Iran has decided to purchase the J-10C remains unconfirmed by either Chinese or Iranian authorities. In my view, given Iran’s tight defense budget, it is unlikely to acquire the J-10C in the near term for the following reasons:

1. Lack of integrated support systems – Iran has no airborne early-warning aircraft, compatible data links, or modern ground-based radars; buying the fighters alone would not create an effective air-combat system.
2. Israeli threat – Any attempt to deliver the aircraft could turn them into high-value targets for pre-emptive Israeli strikes.
3. Economic hardship – Severe sanctions have left Iran short of the foreign currency needed for a multi-billion-dollar purchase.
4. Insufficient air-combat training – Iranian pilots have little recent experience with modern beyond-visual-range tactics and would require years to reach proficiency.
5. Russian diplomatic pressure – Moscow still expects Tehran to prioritize Russian platforms such as the Su-35.

With limited funds, Iran would gain far more immediate value by investing in integrated air-defense systems and expanding its drone fleet.

I agreed with all your points, up until you reached the last one (#5).

I'm sorry, but Russian can't even sustain their own Air Force, how to they intend on producing for others.

Russia, as of late has become a bit of a joke.

Iran needs to start somewhere...and Chinese platforms are the best available - to them.

 

[ziaulislam]

Iran Plans to Buy Chinese J-10C Instead of Russian Su-35​

Dmytro Shumlianskyi
June 28, 2025

Iran has intensified negotiations with China on the purchase of Chengdu J-10C light multipurpose fighters to replace the Russian Su-35.

This was reported by The Moscow Times with reference to Khorasan.

According to the newspaper, Iran intends to modernize its Air Force as soon as possible, and Chinese aircraft are seen as an affordable and cheap alternative to the Russian Su-35.

Iran has been interested in J-10C for about two decades. In 2015, preparations began to sign a contract for the supply of 150 fighters, but the deal stalled. China insisted on payment in foreign currency, while Tehran, due to a shortage, offered barter payments in oil and gas. The UN arms embargo on the Islamic Republic also hindered the deal.

A Pakistani J-10C is equipped with Chinese long-range PL-15 missiles. Photo credits: The STRATCOM Bureau

In 2020, these restrictions were lifted and negotiations resumed. The scope of the deal dropped to 36 aircraft, but the parties again failed to agree on payment. However, after the US allowed China to officially buy oil from Iran on June 24 without the threat of sanctions, the situation changed.

Although as of early 2025, the Iranian Air Force formally had about 150 fighters in service, they were mostly outdated American-made models that the country had received before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Among them are the F-4 Phantom II (64 units), F-5E/F Tiger II (35) and F-14A Tomcat (41). There are also 18 MiG-29A/UBs in service, delivered in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, these aircraft are not only outdated, but most of them are in an unserviceable condition.

In particular, it is known that by the 2010s, the Iranian military had carried out a number of modernizations and maintained about 15-20 F-14A Tomcats in service. In 2022-2024, a few F-14s were still seen in the sky, but there were also reports of accidents.

Iranian F-14. Photo from open sources

With an outdated fleet of aircraft, Iran has relied heavily on indigenously produced anti-aircraft missile systems as the basis of its air defense. However, as the events of the “Twelve Day War” showed, Israel managed to completely suppress Iranian air defense and reign supreme in the sky.

Therefore, Iran’s urgent desire to upgrade its aircraft fleet is natural, but simply purchasing a limited number of aircraft, even those equipped with long-range PL-15 missiles, will not solve the air defense issue.

A Su-35 fighter jet in the camouflage of and with an Algerian Air Force tail number. Photo credits: Russianspotterplane

Iran’s plans to purchase Russian Su-35s were announced in September 2022, and in January an Iranian official confirmed the purchase of Su-35s from Russia. According to the plan, they were supposed to start arriving in the country in the spring of 2023, but no aircraft were ever delivered.

In March 2025, it became known that Algeria received Su-35 fighters that were to be delivered to Iran.

Iran Plans to Buy Chinese J-10C Instead of Russian Su-35

Iran has intensified negotiations with China on the purchase of Chengdu J-10C light multipurpose fighters to replace the Russian Su-35.

militarnyi.com

I am hearing this news for last 20 years

So either Iran is a joker
Or noone wants to sell to iran

Regardless not happening

 

[ziaulislam]

So what about the SU35s Iran already purchased? Are they ever going to be delivered?

It never did

 

[RealNapster]

I am hearing this news for last 20 years

So either Iran is a joker
Or noone wants to sell to iran

Regardless not happening

There was no J-10C 20 years ago.

 

[Persian Gulf]

Younger officers of IRGCAF re-established CoC in 7 hours

it was 17 hours and are you sure they are young

 

[PakAl]

I am hearing this news for last 20 years

So either Iran is a joker
Or noone wants to sell to iran

Regardless not happening

It's all propaganda for domestic audience, fact is Usa Israel EU GCC will not allow anyone to sell advance weapons to Iran, the aim was to over the decades destroy Iran but lucky for Iran they developed missiles which give them some form of defence/offensive capability or else we would witness daily bombing of Iran.

After this war Iran must be careful on international platforms, slowly get all the attention away from them, become closer to China and Pakistan, but this will only happen if Iran stops it's aggressive statements against the west. China will not sell advance weapons to Iran whilst Iran has aggressive foreign policy (in statements ofcourse).

 

[MH.Yang]

It's all propaganda for domestic audience, fact is Usa Israel EU GCC will not allow anyone to sell advance weapons to Iran, the aim was to over the decades destroy Iran but lucky for Iran they developed missiles which give them some form of defence/offensive capability or else we would witness daily bombing of Iran.

After this war Iran must be careful on international platforms, slowly get all the attention away from them, become closer to China and Pakistan, but this will only happen if Iran stops it's aggressive statements against the west. China will not sell advance weapons to Iran whilst Iran has aggressive foreign policy (in statements ofcourse).

This blatant development of nuclear weapons by Iran offends the entire world, not just the West. Are the countries of Africa and South America going to support nuclear proliferation?

Iran does need to learn to keep a low profile; the world supports Iran's resistance to Zionist genocide, but the world does not support nuclear proliferation. The Iranian government should work in absolute secrecy even if it wants nuclear weapons.

 

[NGAD IS THE BEST]

This blatant development of nuclear weapons by Iran offends the entire world, not just the West. Are the countries of Africa and South America going to support nuclear proliferation?

Iran does need to learn to keep a low profile; the world supports Iran's resistance to Zionist genocide, but the world does not support nuclear proliferation. The Iranian government should work in absolute secrecy even if it wants nuclear weapons.

So only west/Russia and China have rights to have a nuclear weapons?

 

[Shafagh]

Su-35s were supposed to be delivered by Russia by early 2023, but that didn't happen.
Where else can Iran get modern jets that it needs so urgently.

Nowhere, and I doubt China will sell them anything either.

 

[MH.Yang]

So only west/Russia and China have rights to have a nuclear weapons?

Every country does not want other countries to have nuclear weapons, but would like to have them themselves, while at the same time they would recognize the rights of countries that have already acquired them. Preventing nuclear proliferation is internationally recognized as politically correct. We need to properly recognize this absurd rule and adopt a reasonable attitude towards it.

 

[ety]

So only west/Russia and China have rights to have a nuclear weapons?

Would Pakistan ad US support Iran to have nukes ?

 

[chinasun]

Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996), p. 20
“The West’s universalist pretensions increasingly bring it into conflict with other civilizations… the possession of nuclear weapons by a non-Western civilization is the ultimate symbol of equality, and thus a profound threat to Western dominance.”

John Mearsheimer, University of Chicago, June 2025 interview
“From the Western perspective, Iran with the bomb is not just another nuclear power; it is the spearhead of a rival civilization acquiring the ability to negate Western escalation dominance.”

Bernard Lewis (Princeton, 2009 lecture, Washington Institute)
“A nuclear-armed Iran would shatter the image of Western technological supremacy and embolden the entire Islamic world to demand a new global hierarchy.”