Summary and Key Points: Russia and Iran’s growing military cooperation highlights their strategic alignment despite being far from a formal military alliance.
-Their collaboration spans several areas, with Iran providing valuable drone technology, such as the Shahed 136 loitering munition, which Russia has incorporated into its own production.
Su-35 Fighter from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Russia’s advanced air-defense systems, like the S-300, have bolstered Iran’s defense, though Israeli strikes have recently weakened these assets.
-Additionally, Iran’s nuclear ambitions are supported by Russia through diplomatic backing and nuclear materials assistance, though not directly in weapons development.
-Finally, the purchase of Russian Su-35 fighter jets strengthens Iran’s aging air force, signaling deeper military ties.
Iran and Russia: The Military Alliance
Russia and Iran’s military ties and increasingly tight cooperation in arms use and design suggest that their friendship, though not an entire military alliance, will not flag anytime soon.
The Russian-Iranian friendship, historically a client-patron relationship, is increasingly a marriage of convenience between near-peers, despite Russia’s obvious material and technical advantages in many fields.
Iran’s ability to provide Russia with crucial drone technology, and its position as a rival to the United States, are both incentives for Moscow to maintain and deepen cooperation with Tehran. Here are a few areas in which the two countries have forged particularly close ties.
Drone and Missile Technology
Drones are perhaps the most obvious example of Russian-Iranian military-technological cooperation. Iran’s Shahed 136 loitering munition, essentially a kamikaze drone, is known as the Geran-2 in Russian service.
Russia has reportedly made its own domestic production facilities for the Iranian-designed weapon. And to expedite the production process, Russia has reportedly lured a number of workers, many from various African countries, to work at drone production lines in Russia, often under bad conditions.
Air Defenses
Russia’s advanced air-defense systems have reportedly been a boon for Iran’s defensive posture, thanks largely to the deployment of several S-300 batteries in the latter country. The S-300 was originally developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s as a long-range air defense system with a high kill probability against NATO aircraft and ballistic missiles. Though not as long-range or as capable as Russia’s newer air-defense batteries, such as the S-400 or the prototype S-500, the S-300 was nonetheless respected at one time as a significant defensive asset.
Su-35 Fighter from Russia.
That changed somewhat in the fall of last year, when widespread Israeli strikes targeting Iran’s missile production facilities, air defense batteries, and other assets wiped out Iran’s system of S-300s—reportedly four batteries. In the aftermath of the strikes, an Israeli official said that “the majority of Iran’s air defense was taken out.”
Iran has expressed interest in acquiring Russia’s more advanced S-400 air defense system, but there is no reporting to indicate that a deal has gone forward.
Nuclear Technology
Despite Iran’s interest in fielding a credible nuclear capability, Tehran’s ability to develop a domestic nuclear weapon has been hampered by Israeli and American disruption campaigns. These efforts have included kinetic strikes, malware to destroy physical infrastructure, and deals like the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known in shorthand as the Iran nuclear deal.
And while Iran is not believed to have a nuclear weapon yet, its efforts to enrich uranium to weapons grade have not stopped completely. Could Russia, one of the world’s pre-eminent nuclear powers, help Iran?
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies explains that “U.S. intelligence has indicated that Iran may be seeking Russian help for its nuclear program, specifically nuclear materials and assistance in nuclear fuel fabrication.135 Representatives of Rosatom and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) have interacted frequently, and Iran has started participating in projects at St. Petersburg’s Konstantinov Institute of Nuclear Physics, which is part of the Kurchatov Institute research center.”
However, the publication concludes, “There is no evidence of Russia directly assisting Iran in areas relevant to producing a nuclear weapon. Rather, as indicated earlier, Russian support for Iran’s high nuclear latency has materialized mostly in the form of diplomatic backing.”
Aircraft
Iran’s anemic fleet of combat aircraft could be one of the weakest links in Tehran’s power-projection and defensive abilities. Much of the Iranian Air Force’s aircraft are legacy jets from the United States like the F-4 Phantom or its aged fleet of F-14 Tomcat jets.
Iran also operates a motley mix of French and other American-derivative aircraft.
Su-35. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
However, in November 2023, Iran reportedly penned an agreement to purchase Russian Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers. In January, Iranian media reported that the country had completed the purchase of Su-35 jets, though it did not specify how many jets were covered by the agreement or when they would be delivered to Iran.
Postscript
Though Iran and Russia’s cooperation within the broad sphere of military technology does not rise to the level of an outright military alliance, the relationship isn’t just transactional, either. Iran’s support of the Russian war effort in Ukraine is extensive. It has dramatically expanded Russia’s ability to launch mass drone attacks across wide swaths of Ukraine, in particular against energy infrastructure and as a tool to deplete Ukrainian air defenses.
Su-35 over Ukraine. Image Credit: TASS/Russian state media.
Russia’s reciprocation via aircraft sales and diplomatic shielding of the Iranian nuclear program indicates that the deepening relationship between the two is mutually beneficial, and likely to remain so for the time being.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
