General Discussion

Iran has excellent air defense tech. If you'd have had to put up with Saddam Hussein on your western border for 20 years, so would you.

Most of us remember the Iran-Contra Scandal, where Ronald Reagan sold military hardware to Iran to raise the money to fund the Contra Rebels. Iran's goal in the scheme was to acquire air defense equipment. They also have a defense industry that makes ADA systems and they're more than adequate to the task.

I would say, as a retired analyst, that Iran is the worst country in the world to try to establish air superiority over. Their equipment works well and their crews know how to get the most out of it.