Top Israeli spy warns Iran plots to arm Russia with extensive missile arsenal in addition to drones
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei (Photo:Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
Iran intends to supply Russia with short- and long-range missiles in addition to Shahed attack drones, Mossad Director David Barnea believes, Israeli newspaper the Times of Israel reported on Sept. 10.
Iran's previous attempts to supply Russia with missiles during the war were stopped, Barnea added, without specifying the details.
"(But) I have a feeling that more deals will (have to) be foiled soon," he said.
The Mossad chief expressed concern that in return, Russia would give the Iranians what they currently lack: "advanced weapons that will certainly endanger our peace and maybe even our existence here."
Iran's assistance to Russia in the war against Ukraine – What is known
At the end of April, US. Newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported that over the past six months, Iran had delivered more than 300,000 artillery shells and about a million ammunition rounds to Russia via cargo ships.
According to media reports, in exchange for weapons for a full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia is suppling Iran with cyber weapons, and Western weapons "captured on the battlefield," as well as helping it develop its missile program.
In a joint investigation by the publication Protokol and the RZVRT YouTube channel, it was reported that Russia was producing Iranian kamikaze drones in the territory of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan.
According to one of the journalists' sources, the contract with Iran could be worth up to RUR 115-130 billion rubles (up to $1.45 billion). Currently, components for the kamikaze drones are supplied from Iran and assembled in Alabuga.
UK intelligence also reported that Russia may have switched from small shipments of Iranian UAVs by air to larger shipments by ship through the Caspian Sea. The Russians are also working on launching domestic production of Shahed drones with Iranian support, the intelligence service confirmed.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on June 9, that according to U.S. intelligence, Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant to ensure a steady supply of weapons for the war against Ukraine.
News media reported on June 12, that a Chinese-made 2023 part was found in the downed Iranian kamikaze drone.
The head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces, Natalia Humeniuk, said on July 26, that the remains of Shahed drones found after the latest Russian attacks had markings in Cyrillic, indicating that they were Russian-made.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi urged Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Aug. 8 not to provide Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine.
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