Iran and Russia have closed contracts where the Islamic country will supply more drones and, for the first time, short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) to Moscow. The information, confirmed to Reuters by four Iranian sources, comes days after Russia attacked the ukrainian capital Kiev and cities in the region with Shahed 136 suicide drones.
On 06/10, the two countries reached an agreement when the first vice president of Iran, Mohammad Mokhber, two senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officials and an official of the Supreme National Security Council visited Moscow to talk about the delivery of armaments.
“Russians have asked for more drones and Iranian ballistic missiles with greater precision, particularly the Fateh and Zolfaghar family of missiles”, said one of the Iranian diplomats, who was briefed on the trip. A Western official briefed on the matter confirmed it, saying there was an agreement between Iran and Russia to supply short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
As Russia's stockpiles of Kalibr and Iskander missiles were depleted during the fighting in Ukraine, Moscow turned to its partner. Despite Russia claiming that it has only used “Russian equipment by Russian personnel” in the conflict, the presence of drones Shahed 136 and Mohajer-6 has already been confirmed for weeks.
A Western official briefed on the matter confirmed it, saying there was an agreement in place between Iran and Russia to provide surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles, including the Zolfaghar 3/5 pic.twitter.com/WJusjuco5d
- Reuters (@Reuters) October 18, 2022
“They wanted to buy hundreds of our missiles, even the medium-range ones, but we told them that soon we could send a few hundred Zolfaghar and Fateh 110 missiles,” one of the Iranian officials told Reuters. “I can't give you the exact date, but soon, very soon, they will be sent out in two or three shipments.”
the missiles
With self-made missiles running out, the Kremlin's interest in acquiring Iranian artifacts was born.
Zolfaghar is the largest of these, with an estimated range of 700 km and a 500 kg warhead. According to The War Zone, the Zolfaghar was used by Iran in an attack on the Iraqi Al-Asad base in January 2020, leaving more than 100 US soldiers with traumatic brain injuries.
The Fateh-110 has less range (300 km), although it also carries 500 kg of explosives. It was used by the IRGC in attacks against Erbil, Iraq, in March of this year. Both SRBMs, according to the portal, have an impressive degree of precision.
The deal was strongly condemned by Ukraine. Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented yesterday (18) a proposal to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, where he suggests the cutting of diplomatic ties with Iran.
