Amid continued Israel threatIran receives Chinese air defence missiles

The Iranian Air Defence Forces have received Chinese-made long-range air defence systems, according to new reports from regional sources.

An unnamed Arab official speaking to the Middle East Eye noted Iranian efforts to “back up and reinforce” its air defences, and that the information on these efforts had been passed on to the United States.

The reports follow successful Israeli and American efforts to penetrate Iranian airspace during attacks during June 13-24, which saw Israeli F-35 stealth fighters and US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers operate deep inside the country, while older aircraft such as F-15s and F-16s launched air-to-surface missiles from safer distances.

Israeli officials have indicated that further attacks on Iran are under consideration, primarily to prevent the country from sustaining ballistic missile production, which makes the strengthening of Iranian air defences appear highly urgent.

During the period of active Iranian-Israeli hostilities, a number of sources reported that two Chinese transport aircraft had landed Iran, fuelling speculation that deliveries to support the country’s war effort had been made, possibly of equipment which could strengthen Iranian command and control capabilities.

Chinese surveillance ships were also reported to be operating in the vicinity, potentially passing intelligence to the Iranian Armed Forces, much as Western satellites, warships and surveillance aircraft across the Middle East were doing to support Israel.

Iran was in the past far from proactive in strengthening defence ties with China, and notably neglected to make major procurements of armaments despite its urgent need for new fighter aircraft, and the limitations of its equipment across most areas of its conventional forces from air defence to armour and submarines.

This sharply contrasted with neighbouring Pakistan which, despite facing less capable adversaries, invested much more heavily in comprehensively modernising its conventional capabilities with Chinese support.

Although Iran faces an extreme deficiency in its fighter aviation capabilities, the considerable time it takes to train new fighter pilots and maintenance personnel, and to train to operate the aircraft as part of an integrated defence with ground based systems, makes it far from viable as an immediate solution.

Re-training Iranian personnel from the S-300 and other advanced systems to utilise new Chinese systems, however, can potentially be done much more rapidly.