Russia is providing an "unprecedented level" of military and technical support to Iran in exchange for Tehran's supply of weapons for the war in Ukraine. It is reported by NBC with reference to high-ranking US officials.
As part of an expanded partnership, Russia can provide Iran with modern military equipment and components, including helicopters and air defense systems. In the spring, Iranian pilots were trained in Russia to fly Russian Su-35 fighter jets, which officials say points to the possibility of Russian aircraft deliveries to Iran over the next year.
The White House has previously said that Iran is supplying drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, but the relationship between the two countries is transforming into a "full defense partnership" with weapons being shipped to both countries, NBC sources say.
According to the interlocutors of the agency, Russia is counting on cooperation with Iran in the development of weapons, including, possibly, the creation in Russia of a joint line for the production of drones.
On Dec. 4, Bloomberg reported that US policy toward Iran would focus on preventing Iranian weapons from reaching Russia, rather than talks to restart the nuclear deal, which had stalled.
In November, British television channel Sky News reported that a Russian military aircraft had secretly delivered €140 million to Iran in exchange for drones. According to these data, on August 20, at the Tehran airport, the Russian side handed over to Iran the cash delivered by the Il-76 transport aircraft. In addition, US and British weapons seized in Ukraine were handed over to Iran, including NLAW and Javelin anti-tank systems and Stinger MANPADS. So the Russian side paid for the delivery of the first batch of 160 Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles. This batch included, among other things, 100 Shahed-136 kamikaze drones and six large Mohajer-6 UAVs.
According to a Sky News source, in the past few days, another deal was agreed between Tehran and Moscow for the purchase of UAVs worth €200 million.
On November 5, Iran admitted for the first time that it supplied drones to Russia, but, as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, the drones were delivered in small numbers and a few months before the war.
On November 8, Ukrainian intelligence reported that Iran supplied its drones to Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. This is evidenced by the details of the drones, which were manufactured later than February 24, 2022.
Russia regularly attacks Ukraine with Iranian Shahed-136s, disguising them as its own drones with the domestic name "Geran-2". At the same time, both Russia and Iran deny the supply of drones. To prove that they are Iranian, Ukraine invited UN experts. However, the Russian Federation began to blackmail the UN with the rejection of the "grain deal" if the organization's experts decide to investigate the drones. In October, Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog showed US officials photos confirming that Russia was using the Shahed-136 in the war in Ukraine. He compared photos of the engines of Iranian ammunition and drones shot down in Ukraine – they turned out to be similar.