Venezuela may sell US F-16s to Iran
The Venezuelan military was considering to sell F-16 fighter planes bought from the United States to another country, possibly Iran, in response to a U.S. ban on arms sales to Venezuela, a senior military official said on Tuesday.

General Alberto Muller, one of Venezuela's chiefs of staff, said he had advised Defense Minister Orlando Maniglia to sell 21 F-16s to a third party, saying, "There is feasibility of negotiating with Iran for the sale of the planes."

The fighter planes were bought from the United States in the 1980s under a memorandum of understanding, which said the U.S. authorities would supply spare parts and offer technical help. In the same document, Venezuela promised not to sell the technology or the planes to a third party.

Last November, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the United States had broken the terms of the contract by failing to supply F-16 spare parts.

Muller said Venezuela had begun talks about replacing the F-16s with SU-35 aircraft from Russia, which he said was "the best fighter plane in the world, right now."