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A Russian-made YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft has joined Iran’s Air Force, an Iranian news agency is reporting.

The report by ISNA said the advanced combat trainer aircraft is able to meet the training needs of pilots to learn to fly fourth generation fighters.

For context: Iran and Russia have a close relationship, especially in military equipment, and Iranian drones have been a key element of Russia’s continued war on Ukraine.

Tehran has offered a series of contradictory explanations about the drones, first denying it supplied them to Moscow and then claiming it sold drones only before the war began. 

In June, the White House said Iran was providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looked to lock in a steady supply of weaponry.

🇮🇷🇷🇺 The Iranian Ministry of Defense confirmed the arrival of two Yak-130 combat training aircraft in Iran.

It is stated that several Yak-130 training aircraft arrived in the country and joined the Shahid Babai air base in Isfahan in order to improve the training and combat… pic.twitter.com/33g1IiXHuU

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) September 2, 2023

New pictures of Yak 130 in Isfahan pic.twitter.com/4GoSNR2S9S

— IranMilitaryNews (@IranMilitaryNet) September 2, 2023

View of the improved cockpit of the Yak-130 combat training aircraft.

The army of the Islamic Republic of Iran received a number of aircraft of this type under a contract with a Russian company.

According to the army, the planes will be used to train pilots who will fly the new… pic.twitter.com/nw0t7cWc1x

— Sprinter Press Agency (@SprinterPress) September 3, 2023