[5][7] In December 2015, the commander of the Iranian Army, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, announced plans to buy T-90 tanks.

[13][14] In early February 2016, Pourdastan stated that "since we can manufacture similar models within the country and we plan to do so in the near future, the deal is now off".

[12][15][16][17] According to some sources, Pourdastan also said they would potentially seek to acquire them through licensed production in Iran with assistance from manufacturer Uralvagonzavod.

[18][19] The next day, Russian News Agency TASS reported that the Russian manufacturer of the T-90 expressed interest working with Iran "in the areas of T-90S MBT licensed production, T-72S MBT modernization and the upgrade of related facilities" after restrictions on military cooperation with Iran are lifted.

"[24][27][23] In August 2016, video footage from Iranian Television "Telewebion" was published on YouTube showing the Karrar main battle during trials in the desert.

[28] In early March 2017, Pourdastan stated that a domestically manufactured battle tank would be unveiled in the coming days and soon join the army, but added that Iran still planned to purchase T-90s.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari mentioned that the Karrar would be delivered in 2018.

[34][1] The main armament of the Karrar consists of a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore gun fitted with a fume extractor and a thermal sleeve.

[8] A remotely operated weapon station armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun is mounted on the roof of the turret.

[1] The Karrar features four dazzlers, each containing an electro-optical jammer and 3 laser warning receivers as part of its soft-kill active protection system.