Russia’s partnership with Iran has strengthened in recent years, almost certainly accelerated by russia’s invasion of Ukraine. International isolation has forced russia to redirect its foreign policy efforts towards previously less-desirable partnerships to gain diplomatic, economic and military support, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Iranian military aid to russia’s war in Ukraine has included hundreds of one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and artillery munitions. Iranian OWA UAVs have been a core element of russia’s campaign of long-range strikes into Ukraine. This arrangement has now been extended to include assembling and production of these UAVs, under licence, in a facility in russia.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence Analyzed the Strikes on Sochi
Russo-Iranian diplomatic and economic ties have also intensified. Russia’s engagement with Iran through multinational forums will almost certainly increase following Iran’s recent admission into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and its invitation to join the economic BRICS forum. Iran recently claimed that russia had invested USD $2.76 bn into Iran in 2022-23. Economic ties are highly likely to deepen as russia seeks to mitigate sanctions.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence Reports on russia’s Rehearsal of Large-Scale International Armed Conflict
