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Russia secretly flew approximately $141 million in cash and a select variety of U.K. and U.S.-made weapons seized in Ukraine to Iran in exchange for Iranian drones, according to a report. This comes as a senior Russian security official met Iranian leaders in Tehran on Wednesday to pledge closer ties between the two countries.
A Sky News report, citing an unnamed security source, stated that in the early hours of Aug. 20, a Russian military aircraft secretly transported the cash and three models of weapons — the U.S. Javelin anti-tank missile, a Stinger anti-aircraft missile and a British NLAW anti-tank missile — to Tehran.
The weapons were part of a shipment of U.K. and US military equipment intended for the Ukrainian military that “fell into Russian hands,” the report said. According to the source, the seized weapons will offer Iran an opportunity to study the technology used to manufacture the weapons and potentially copy it.
“They (the weapons) will probably be reverse-engineered and used in future wars,” the source was cited as saying by Sky News.
The report comes as Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev visited Tehran on Wednesday and met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s top security official Admiral Ali Shamkhani. The trip was aimed at seeking to deepen trade and security cooperation between the two countries.
During the meeting, Patrushev and Shamkhani reportedly discussed the situation in Ukraine and measures to combat “Western interference” in the internal affairs of both countries. The talks also focused on the need to develop deeper ties between the two nations in the energy, transportation, agriculture, trade and banking sectors.
“Iran welcomes and supports any initiative that leads to a ceasefire and peace between Russia and Ukraine based on dialogue and is ready to play a role in ending the war,” Shamkhani said about the war in Ukraine, Iran’s NourNews agency reported.
Amid Western-led efforts to isolate Russia with sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up efforts to build political partnerships and economic ties with non-Western nations.
Meanwhile, Iran, which is facing its own set of sanctions from the West, is looking for partnerships in the East, to challenge what it calls, the U.S.-led Western hegemony.
Speaking about his country’s cooperation with Russia and China, the Iranian president recently said that the partnership will help create a new power to oppose the unipolar world order that has violated the legitimate rights of many nations.
“The relationship between countries that are sanctioned by the US, such as Iran, Russia or other countries, can overcome many problems and issues and make them stronger,” Raisi said.
“The Americans think whichever country they impose sanctions on, it will be stopped, their perception is a wrong one,” he added.
Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying drones and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
According to reports, Iran was preparing another shipment of weapons for Russia, including ballistic missiles and drones for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Speaking about the military partnership between Russia and Iran, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that Moscow is aiding Tehran’s nuclear program in return for “affordable” weapons.
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