Moscow and Tehran have agreed on a plan to assemble Iranian-designed weapons on Russian territory. About it
What is known
In early November, a meeting was held in Iranwith representatives of Russia, during which an agreement was reached to begin production of hundreds of kamikaze UAVs on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, Russia is moving quickly to obtain developments and key components that could allow production to begin within a few months. The Washington Post notes that the officials agreed to discuss the matter on the condition that their identities and nationalities would not be revealed, citing the need to protect confidential and ongoing intelligence collection efforts.
According to sources, an agreement, if there is one.fully implemented, would represent a further deepening of the Russian-Iranian alliance and would help Russia significantly increase its stockpile of relatively inexpensive UAVs and meet the urgent need for precision-guided munitions. According to intelligence data, since August, Russia has used more than 400 Iranian-made combat drones, often to strike civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Iran's leaders, the article says, may believe they can avoid new sanctions if the drones are physically assembled in Russia.
“Iran and Russia can lie to the world, but they cannothide the facts: Tehran is helping to kill Ukrainian civilians by supplying weapons and helping Russia in its operation. This is another sign of how isolated both Iran and Russia are. The United States—along with allies and partners—is using every means to expose, deter, and counter Iran's provision of these munitions and their use by Russia against the Ukrainian people. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the critical security assistance it needs to defend itself, including air defense systems,” said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.