Hi Fred and thanks for sharing the photos.
It is hard to judge a new design just by how it looks. Personally I find it a nice looking aircraft, mostly because as other people said, it is a hybrid between two really beautiful aircraft. However, the question is what new features it has to offer compared to the good old F-5E. In other words, the discussion should be focused on the electronics. It doesn't seem to have a much larger radar cone, which means that probably it does not have one of the good radars that are out in the market right now (unless the Iranians have managed to produce a mini super-radar, which I doubt). This new aircraft of Iranian Air Force appeared in one of the local exercises and was seen carrying unguided rockets!!! If they wanted to impress their enemies, they should have loaded it with something more impressive. I don't think they spent all that money to upgrade the aircraft just to improve the rocket kill ratio of the F-5.
As a conclusion, modelwise, it is a good looking aircraft and a challenge for modellers who would like to include it in their collection, since it will probably take a long time until a model of the 'Thunder' will be available (if this ever happens). With a desert camo it will certainly look great. But as an aircraft, I believe that it is just a good attempt of the Iranians to get experience in upgrading aircraft and improving the capabilities of their aviation industry. The result is probably not the best one with the current international standards, but experience is always useful for future attempts.
