A decadelong UN arms embargo against Iran expired Oct. 18, following failed attempts by Washington to keep the ban in place. With the end of the embargo, Tehran can now begin to buy and export arms, including offensive weapons. Yet questions remain about whether or not weapons sales will proceed — and if they do, who will buy and sell?

There has been wide speculation that Russia and China could potentially supply Iran with new types of military equipment, as the armed forces of the Islamic Republic face an acute weapons shortage.

Over the past few decades, a certain pattern has developed whereby in some spheres of military-technical cooperation Tehran has established closer ties with Beijing, while in others with Moscow, and in yet others with Pyongyang. At the same time, Iran, in matters of acquiring the most modern technology — mainly for its air force and air defense — looks primarily at Russia.

This is largely due to the fact that China, which was the main supplier of arms to Iran in the 1980s and 1990s, was unable to offer competitive analogues. The Chinese HQ-2J air defense systems and F-7M fighters purchased by Iran in those years were modernized Chinese versions of the long-obsolete Soviet C-75 air defense systems and MiG-21 fighter jet and — naturally — they did not impress the Iranians. Over the past quarter century, the Chinese military-industrial complex has made a huge leap forward, but the prevailing preferences and connections are not so easy to change, especially since Russian-Iranian cooperation in the military field has a much longer history.