Russia and Iran are holding talks over the former supplying the Islamic Republic with Sukhoi Superjet passenger planes, Russia's Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said on Wednesday.

“Such talks are being held. And not only Superjets, but also other technology is being met with certain interest from our Iranian comrades,” Sokolov told reporters
The Sukhoi Superjet is the first new airliner Russia has developed since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 (photo) is a modern fly-by-wire twin-engine regional jet with 8 (VIP) to 108 (all Y) passenger seats. With development initiated in 2000, the airliner was designed and spearheaded by Sukhoi, a division of the Russian civil aerospace company (UAC), in co-operation with several foreign partners. Its maiden flight was conducted on 19 May 2008. On 21 April 2011, the Superjet 100 undertook its first commercial passenger flight, on the Armavia route from Yerevan to Moscow.

Designed to compete internationally with its An-158, Embraer and Bombardier counterparts, the Superjet 100 claims substantially lower operating costs, at a lower purchase price of $35 million.

The final assembly of the Superjet 100 is done by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association. Its SaM-146 engines are designed and produced by the French-Russian PowerJet joint venture and the aircraft is marketed internationally by the Italian-Russian SuperJet International joint venture.