Russias Military Aid to Iran Remains Classified and Unspecified

US President Donald Trump stated during a recent interview with Fox News that Russia’s military aid to Iran is “a bit” significant. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later confirmed this assessment in a statement, describing the cooperation as “good”.

According to reports, Russia is providing Iran with satellite and intelligence data on US warships and aircraft. This information is likely obtained from Liana, Moscow’s only fully functional spy satellite system, which was designed to track US carrier strike groups and identify them as targets.

Russia has a long history of supplying weaponry to Iran, including advanced air defence systems, trainer and fighter jets, helicopters, armoured vehicles, and sniper rifles. Since the US and Israel began their strikes on February 28, Russia has continued to aid Iran with intelligence, data, experts, and components for weaponry.

Iran has also provided Russia with ammunition, artillery shells, firearms, short-range ballistic missiles, helmets, and flak jackets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The two countries have a strategic partnership, but do not have a mutual defence clause.

In recent weeks, Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones have been launched on US military assets in the Gulf region. Some upgrades to these drones, including Russian components, have made their way back to Iran and were used to hit a British airbase on Cyprus on March 1.

Russia has also played a key role in the development of Iran’s space programme and its key satellite, the Khayyam. The satellite was launched from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in 2022 and orbits the Earth at 500 kilometres with a resolution of one metre.

Source: Al Jazeera