Missiles, drones, and more: all the gun sweethearts between Iran and Russia
Iran is ready to supply Russia with drones and ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. In return, Moscow will provide fighter jets and helicopters.
The White House has just made very harsh accusations against what British Foreign Minister James Cleverly calls "the alliance of the desperate" between Russia and Iran.
America's Accusations
Citing US intelligence assessments to support his claims, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Moscow and Tehran had decided to step up their military cooperation with the former ready to make advanced weapons such as fighter jets available to the latter. and helicopters and Iran ready not only to supply the drones the Kremlin needs to continue its campaign in Ukraine but also a certain amount of ballistic missiles to be used in the battlefield.
As Kirby said, Russia is offering Iran "an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a full defense partnership."
Sukhoi Su-35 fighter leaving for Tehran?
Among the most striking developments referred to by Kirby are the training of Iranian pilots on Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, a preliminary step to the delivery of the same aircraft to Tehran expected within the year, and the construction in Russia of an assembly line for the deadly drones of attack made in Iran.
Missiles in exchange for military and technical support
The accusations by the White House have been joined by those of the British ambassador Barbara Woodward: Russia, the diplomat said, is trying to obtain further offensive weapons from Iran, such as in particular ballistic missiles which are starting to run short in the Army's arsenal red, in exchange for ever more advanced military supplies that can shift the balance in a region already armed to the teeth like the Middle East.
"Russia is now trying to get more weapons, including hundreds of ballistic missiles," the ambassador said on Friday and was reported by Reuters . "We are worried". Woodward added, "that Russia intends to make advanced military components available to Iran."
Such agreements, underlined the British foreign minister James Cleverly, "increase the risk posed to our partners in the Middle East and to international security".
Axios scoop on Iran-Russia relations
The always well-informed Axios portal added a significant detail revealed by four "senior" Israeli officials: since the delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia would make Iran run the risk of violating UN resolution 2231 passed on the occasion of the nuclear agreement of 2015 which triggers sanctions in the event of the transfer of missiles with a range greater than 300 kilometers, Iran now plans to deliver to Moscow only missiles with a lower range or even modified to comply with that parameter.
Among the missiles that Iran would be ready to supply to Moscow is the Fateh-110, which has a range of its own of 300 kilometers but which, according to the four Israeli officials interviewed by Axios, the Iranians are preparing to modify so as not to violate the UN resolution. For the same reason, there has been a total rethinking by the Iranian side of the supply of Zolfaghar missiles which have a range of 700 kilometers and which the Iranians are therefore now removing from the pack.
With regard to Russian-Iranian military cooperation, Axios himself informs us that on December 3, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksander Fomin visited Tehran with a military delegation. Quoting Iranian media , Axios specifies that Fomin met with the Chief of Staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri and would then have participated in the fourth meeting of the Joint Military Cooperation Commission, an entity set up last year precisely for the purpose of strengthen bilateral military understandings.
The meeting of the UN Security Council
Resolution 2231 and Iran's alleged violations of it will be discussed at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
The USA, France and Great Britain are preparing to do battle in the belief that the drone transfers carried out this summer already constitute a violation of the resolution.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/iran-russia-cooperazione-militare/ on Thu, 15 Dec 2022 06:53:26 +0000.