Since the eighties of the last century, Iran began to import ** equipment from China. Moreover, since then, Iran has also become a stable customer of China's first export sales. According to the relevant statistics of the US National Agency for Control and Disarmament, from 1982 to 1986, during the four years of China's export of equipment worth $1.2 billion to Iran. Iran's purchase of China** is diverse, including land, sea and air forces, including army equipment, tanks, armored vehicles, naval equipment, ships, and air force equipment and fighter jets.
Iran has previously imported China's J-7 fighter, and after actual combat, this fighter was assessed as not only cheap, simple to operate, but also not below the MiG-21 fighter in performance. Iran had also imported China's Type 69 tank before, and this tank was also loved by Iran at that time because of its easy operation, simple maintenance, and not bad performance. In addition, Iran has also bought M-7 missiles with a range of 200 kilometers, and a total of 90 ballistic ballistics worth $200 million. Because the weight of the warhead does not exceed 500 kilograms, the range of the M-7 missile is only 200 kilometers, and it does not violate the provisions of the "Missile Technology Control Agreement" that the international community generally abides by, and the missile with a range of more than 300 kilometers and the weight of the warhead must be less than 500 kilograms. Therefore, it is completely compliant with the regulations when selling to Iran.
Iran has been equipped with American F14 fighter jets for more than 40 years, and due to the US embargo, it is very difficult to maintain spare parts, and many aircraft are no longer usable, so more advanced fighters are needed to replace them. Last year, Iran put forward the need to purchase new fighter jets, and many Chinese netizens thought that Iran would inevitably purchase Chinese J-10 fighters, but Iran finally chose the Russian Su-35, why is this?
Iran's failure to purchase the J-10 is not because it distrusts China, nor does it look down on the J-10's combat capabilities. Rather, Iran does need a heavy fighter to replace the F14. First of all, Iran is a regional power and needs heavy fighters capable of long-range operations, and the J-10 is a medium fighter that does not meet Iran's needs. Secondly, the Su-35 is capable of carrying Russian R37M heavy long-range air-to-air missiles with a range of 400 kilometers, which is a unique advantage, while the J-10 can only carry Thunderbolt-15 medium-range air-to-air missiles with a range of about 200 kilometers. Finally, Iran's enemy, Israel, is equipped with F15 heavy fighters, and the J-10C has a certain gap compared to it, and it is better to use the Su-35 against the F15. Therefore, Iran did not choose the Chinese J-10, not because it does not distrust China, but because of its own needs.