In what appears to be a return to the good ol’ days of the Cold War, two massive Middle Eastern arms deals have been announced. Russia is selling arms to Iran, while the US is selling to its own allies in the region. The Iranian arms deal will be the largest for Russia in 30 years and promises to deliver at least $1 billion in refueling tankers, along with 250 long-range Su-30 fighters. Russia has sold several air defense systems to Iran before, which it uses to protect its nuclear energy facilities from the open threat of nuclear war posed by the US and Israel.

DEBKAfile states that the acquisition of the fuel tankers will �extend the Su-30MKM�s assault sustainability to 10 hours and its range to 8,000 km at altitudes of 11-13 km.� Thus, the combination of the tankers and Su-30�s will transform the Iranian air force into a military arm rivaling that of Israel. The Western equivalent would be the F-15E fighter bomber. Still, Iran is perhaps better off investing in missiles and resistance organizations, as the US and Israel are quite effective at destroying a conventional military. As seen in Iraq, and throughout history, it’s guerrilla warfare that superpowers have trouble defeating.

The arms deal is an obvious reaction to America�s multi-billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel. That deal will supply thousands of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) units, a munitions upgrade which will upgrade existing free-fall bombs into guided smart bombs. Unfortunately, they will not also make the bomb-droppers any smarter. Though such deals have consistently created unwanted consequences for the United States, we�re told that this deal will keep us safe.

The Russian deal can not proceed without the tacit approval of France, as some of the Su-30�s systems are French products. However, it is believed that conservative President Sarkozy will not oppose the deal with Iran due to his current diplomatic outreach to the Muslim world.

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