The Yak-130 aircraft have arrived in Iran and are housed at the 8th tactical aviation facility named after Shahid Babai in Isfahan reports Iranian news source Tasnim. The Yak-130 will be utilised to train pilots who would fly the new fighters for the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, and it was also said that the acquisition of these aircraft aims to strengthen the Iranian Air Force’s training and combat readiness. According to agreements with Russia, Iran is expanding its Air Force with Yak-130 jets. Iran has also ordered Su-35s from Russia and Yak-130s will be used for training the pilots for the fighter aircraft.
There has been no formal statement regarding the contract to provide Iran with Yak-130 aircraft. However, the first reports regarding the purchase of Yak-130s from Iranian sources emerged around the beginning of July. These first two Yak-130 aircraft were most likely transported to Mehrabad Airport in Tehran by an An-124-100 military cargo plane operated by the 224th Flight Unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Iran is now the eighth country in the world to acquire Yak-130 aircraft from the Irkutsk Aviation Plant after Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos.
