Following the US decision to launch a military strike in Syria, relations between Iran and Russia have been strengthening. The Defence Minister of Iran is expected to go to Russia before the end of April to discuss military cooperation. 

They want their military cooperation to show strength and to deter the US from taking action in the Middle East.

Last week, President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson both announced that Iran was violating the spirit of the nuclear deal, despite technically adhering to its terms. The Trump administration announced that more action would be taken once a comprehensive review of Iran’s behaviour was carried out. 

It was on Tuesday that Tillerson announced to Congress that Iran’s compliance had been certified.

In spite of governmental warnings to presidential candidates on the ground that they “should not be providing food to counter-revolutionaries”, gang-fighting to claim the presidency continues within Iranian regime’s various factions. It is reported that some well-known candidates, who are enrolled in any way and manner, are trying to get their accreditation.

They have threatened that if they did not get approved, they will use the method of open revelations, which would inflame the public.

The Trump administration confirmed that Iran has complied with the 2015 nuclear disarmament deal, but says the White House is conducting an internal review of the landmark arms control accord. Trump once called it “the worst deal ever.”

In a letter to Congress, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, said that the National Security Council will lead an interagency review of whether easing economic sanctions against Iran as part of the accord “is vital to the national security interests of the United States.” He added, “Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods.”

On April 18, Iranian President Rouhani, acknowledged that, “Figures show that in the eleventh government (his government) the budget of defense capability compared to the beginning of this government has had 145% growth and that means that in hard economic times, the government efforts were to further strengthen the country’s armed forces. The eleventh government is proud to have taken steps in three and a half years, from the armed forces’ strategic equipment and facilities viewpoint, equal to ten years prior to it.” He added, “The feature of our armed forces is that they have a commander in chief and this command is derived from Islam, Islamic jurisprudence, justice, and moderation.”

A video of the new version of Iran’s Qaher F-313 stealth fighter has made an appearance showing the aircraft performing taxi trials. Although there appears to be improvement over the last iteration of the Qaher, this new version of the alleged stealth fighter is probably just a model, according to Dave Majumdar in his article for the National Interest. 

On Feb. 2, 2013, Tehran originally showed off the Qaher F-313. Many believed this debut to be a poorly executed propaganda stunt. It seemed that the purported fifth-generation stealth fighter was merely subscale mockup with dubious aerodynamics.  Majumdar writed, “Indeed, the ‘aircraft’ was too small for a normal-sized human pilot and lacked a nozzle for an engine. That’s of course assuming Iran had access to a propulsion system that could fit into something so tiny. Quite simply, it was a farce.”