For months, rumors have been circulating on Chinese social media that Iran is interested in purchasing J-10C light fighter jets. But according to military analysts, Beijing is not willing to barter warplanes in exchange for crude oil or natural gas.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), there have been reports of Tehran’s interest in the J-10C since the end of a 13-year traditional UN arms embargo on Iran last October.
However, Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Beijing-based military science “Yuanwang think tank,” noted that the key problem is that Iran cannot afford to pay the Chinese in dollars or euros in cash, preferring to trade crude oil and natural gas for weapons. However, the Chinese side has accumulated too much energy reserves. “In business, all arms sales are trying to make money, and China cannot do business that doesn’t work.”
Iran’s currency, the rial (Rial), has tightened sharply in recent years, forcing the Tehran government to hold as much foreign currency as possible, Zhou Chenming said. An earlier Sina.com report said Iran may use half of the $3 billion (about 85.3 billion Taiwan dollars) in financial aid provided by Qada to purchase 36 Chinese warplanes. The money was provided to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a visit to Tehran by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Qaeda king, last January.
As U.S. economic sanctions against Iran hit the local economy, Tehran and Beijing formally signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement on March 27 to strengthen comprehensive cooperation in the fields of trade, energy and security. Although the details of the agreement were not made public, CCTV, the Chinese official media, reported that it covers economic cooperation ranging from oil and mining to promoting Iran’s industrial activities, as well as cooperation in transportation and agriculture.
The J-10C is an upgraded version of the J-10 single-engine fighter, powered by an improved engine for stealth and thrust steering performance, designed for air combat.
On the other hand, according to Hong Kong military commentator Song Zhongping, in addition to the J-10C, Iran may also consider Russian MiG (MiG)-35, Su (Su)-35 and Su (Su)-30SM fighters. He noted that the Chinese side can offer two options, 1 is the less advanced FC-1 “Dragon” and the other is the more advanced J-10C, and both of these light fighters are cheaper than the Russian fighters.
In fact, depending on the configuration, the price point of the J-10 is around $40-65 million ($1.1-1.85 billion Taiwan dollars). As for the more advanced Russian Su-35s, the Su-30SM costs more than $100 million per aircraft (about $2.8 billion), the Su-30SM costs $50 million per aircraft (about $1.4 billion), and the less advanced MiG-35 Fulcrum costs $55 million (about $1.56 billion). In contrast, the U.S. F-35 fighter plane costs $110 million (about 3.1 billion Taiwan dollars) per unit.
Shanghai military expert Ni Le Xiong said the U.S. and China have been fighting a trade war since 2018, and with the impact of the new crown pneumonia pandemic, Beijing should prioritize its own economy. He argued that having more cash and foreign currency is always a priority when dealing with economic crises, and that China does not need that much crude oil when the economy is currently under attack, not to mention that crude oil and natural gas prices are falling.
In addition, Ni Le Xiong stressed that China is not obligated to provide Iran with free weapons. Beijing needs to think hard about what the United States and Israel would think if it offered Tehran cheaper arms sales, he said.
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