All Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes have just deployed to Iraq

Seven Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes operated by the Iranian Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution have arrived at Baghdad to join the war against ISIS militants.

On Jul. 1, seven Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes (out of 10 believed to be operational in Iran) operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) have completed their deployment to Imam Ali Airbase where they will join the ex-Russian Air Force Su-25s already delivered to Iraq in the air war against ISIS (Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

The aircraft (three Su-25UBK and four Su-25K jets) will be operated by four Iraqi pilots and 10 Iranian pilots.

According to ACIG.org forum member IIAF-JSF, who brought several to light, aircraft and support to fly them would be part of a military contract (backed by the U.S.) according to which Iran’s IRGC Air Force will receive six Su-30K multirole jets destined to Iraq.

Their delivery of the Iranian Su-25 has been filmed and reported by local media outlets and Iraqi MoD that has published the following video as well as the pictures you can find in this post.

Iran is believed to have joined the air war on ISIS since Jun. 21 when unidentified war planes launched heavy air strikes on the city of Baiji, north of Baghdad which had been invaded by ISIS.

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

‘Mental’ and ‘ridiculous’ or not, that’s the present situation, the bottom line of which is that the USA de-facto depend on China-credited Iraq to be saved by Russian-armed Iranians. That’s a net result of decades of failed US foreign policies in the Middle East: Washington has donated or sold arms worth billions to Iraq, only to establish an army that is so corrupt that any commander demanding CAS must pay his counterparts to let their aircraft (or helicopters) fly. Even more – and more advanced – arms are meanwhile sold to such regimes like that in Saudi Arabia, supposedly for defence from Iran – which then can’t scratch together 30K of own troops to protect their border to Iraq, not to talk about there being no chance for Saudis to deploy their military into Iraq to fight the ISIS. The latter is simply impossible because there is a serious threat these troops – indoctrinated with Wahhabism (state-religion in Saudi Arabia) already at school age – defecting to the ISIS, who are hard-core Wahhabists.

Anyway, the deal includes the IRGCASF deploying all seven of its operational Su-25s to Iraq (another example is to follow, as soon as its overhaul is complete), and deliveries of huge consignements of ammo to Iraqi Army. In exchange for this, the Iraqis are buying ‘6 Su-30s’ (that’s the number and designation reported by multiple sources amid all the possible confusion in Baghdad and Tehran) that are to be delivered to Iran in September. A group of IRGCASF pilots and ground personnel already arrived in Belarus for conversion training.

That said, the IRGCASF meanwhile has more than a dozen of Su-25 it obtained by back in 2006. However, due to the latest round of Western sanctions and because of squandering nearly US$50 billion for saving the Assadist regime in Syria in the last three years, the regime in Tehran is actually bankrupt. Indeed, so bankrupt, most of IRGCASF Su-25-pilots have barely flown the last year or so (except for those few deployed in Syria, of course). Because of this, although all were overhauled only two years ago, only 7 of IRGCASF’s Su-25s (four single- and three two-seaters) were operational.

With other words: through this deal the IRGC is going to get the finances it needs to survive too… which prompts one to wonder: what to hell were then sanctions against Iran meant to effect (except angering the UAE, which has lost over $50 billion in earnings in the last three years, because it cannot export to Iran any more)?

Silvije Kovacevic says:

July 3, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Saddam Hussain relocated some airplanes to Iran prior to “Desert storm” to avoid their destruction by NATO forces. Iranians decided to give them back to Iraqis because of those latest developments with ISIS. I am not sure wether that includes SU-25 or not? Does anyone have more info on that? (Edited) I’ve read your comments and got my answers, thx.
Tom Cooper says:

July 5, 2014 at 8:34 AM

‘Mental’ and ‘ridiculous’ or not, that’s the present situation, the bottom line of which is that the USA de-facto depend on China-credited Iraq to be saved by Russian-armed Iranians. That’s a net result of decades of failed US foreign policies in the Middle East: Washington has donated or sold arms worth billions to Iraq, only to establish an army that is so corrupt that any commander demanding CAS must pay his counterparts to let their aircraft (or helicopters) fly. Even more – and more advanced – arms are meanwhile sold to such regimes like that in Saudi Arabia, supposedly for defence from Iran – which then can’t scratch together 30K of own troops to protect their border to Iraq, not to talk about there being no chance for Saudis to deploy their military into Iraq to fight the ISIS. The latter is simply impossible because there is a serious threat these troops – indoctrinated with Wahhabism (state-religion in Saudi Arabia) already at school age – defecting to the ISIS, who are hard-core Wahhabists.

Anyway, the deal includes the IRGCASF deploying all seven of its operational Su-25s to Iraq (another example is to follow, as soon as its overhaul is complete), and deliveries of huge consignements of ammo to Iraqi Army. In exchange for this, the Iraqis are buying ‘6 Su-30s’ (that’s the number and designation reported by multiple sources amid all the possible confusion in Baghdad and Tehran) that are to be delivered to Iran in September. A group of IRGCASF pilots and ground personnel already arrived in Belarus for conversion training.

That said, the IRGCASF meanwhile has more than a dozen of Su-25 it obtained by back in 2006. However, due to the latest round of Western sanctions and because of squandering nearly US$50 billion for saving the Assadist regime in Syria in the last three years, the regime in Tehran is actually bankrupt. Indeed, so bankrupt, most of IRGCASF Su-25-pilots have barely flown the last year or so (except for those few deployed in Syria, of course). Because of this, although all were overhauled only two years ago, only 7 of IRGCASF’s Su-25s (four single- and three two-seaters) were operational.

With other words: through this deal the IRGC is going to get the finances it needs to survive too… which prompts one to wonder: what to hell were then sanctions against Iran meant to effect (except angering the UAE, which has lost over $50 billion in earnings in the last three years, because it cannot export to Iran any more)?
Marco says:

July 6, 2014 at 9:59 AM

Shuffle your used weapons, your politics and your money. Nice!
Indian-loaned Su-30k going back to Russia after the delivery of Su-30mki, given (sold?) to Belarus then transferred to Iran which transferred part (if not all) its Su-25 which were flown to Iran during Desert Storm 23 years ago and the same planes were used 26 years ago to bomb Iranian positions. Maybe they will be used to bomb targets inside Syria too. These planes really wrote the story.
dou44 says:

July 7, 2014 at 5:26 AM

I don’t the Iranians are going to be fooled by the US lie machine out of DC again.
PhantomFlash says:

July 9, 2014 at 5:08 PM

Yes, and also Anyone who honestly thinks the U.S. is fighting the good fight against terrorists, needs to just put a gun to their head and pull the trigger and stop thieving the rest of the human race’s oxygen.