Iran Shows Off Homegrown Fighter Jet

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Rice defends 20 bln Saudi arms sale
Washington (AFP) Aug 5 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended a 20 billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, citing a brewing threat from Iran. She rebuffed suggestions that Saudi Arabia has not done enough to support the US-backed government in Iraq, saying "I think we have good cooperation." "We want all states to do more. But it makes no sense to leave our longtime strategic ally undefended in a region in which Iranian and other challenges are brewing," she said in an interview with Fox television. Rice returned to the United States Friday from a Middle East trip that included talks with the Saudis in Jeddah on the situation in Iraq, US concerns about Iran, and Israeli-Palestinian issues. The United States has put together an arms package worth at least 20 billion dollars over 10 years to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran, which Washington believes is working to acquire nuclear weapons. Few specifics have been disclosed, but US officials say the package includes missile defense systems, early warning systems, air defense and air power, and naval systems for Saudi Arabia's eastern fleet.

by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Aug 10, 2007
Iran on Sunday showed off for the first time a new fighter jet said to be modelled on the American F-5 but built using domestic technology, state media reported. The "Azarakhsh" (Lightning) jet -- one of the first to be home-produced by Iran -- made a successful flight in the central city of Isfahan in a ceremony attended by Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar and other officials.

"The success of this domestically developed fighter plane is another example of the technological achievements of our country," said Isfahan governor Morteza Bakhtiari, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

"At a time when the United States is selling its arms to its allies in the region, our country's specialists are taking big strides every day towards self-sufficiency in defence," he added.

The development of the plane was first announced in September last year, when military officials said that it was "comparable" to the US F-5 fighter jet.

Iran has also developed another homemade war plane named "Saegheh" (Thunder) which it has described as similar to the American F-18 fighter jet.

The fly-by in Isfahan appears to have been the first time the Azarakhsh jet has been shown in public.

Many of Iran's military planes are of American origin and were bought under the pro-US shah ousted by the Islamic revolution in 1979.

The current US embargo means the Iran must work hard to find spare parts to keep its fleet in the air and officials have repeatedly emphasised the importance of moving towards self-sufficiency in defence.

The United States last week announced new military pacts worth 20 billion dollars for Saudi Arabia, 13 billion dollars for Egypt and 30 billion for Israel in a bid to counter Iran's regional influence.

Iran dismissed the deals as "fruitless" but insisted it was not worried by the moves.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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