Reported by Al Jazeera
Report of deal comes as top Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei discusses developing strategic cooperation treaty with Putin.
Russia has supplied Iran with 90 advanced missile launchers, reports have said, as Moscow confirmed its close relations with Tehran.
Russia agreed a deal in 2024 to supply Iran with 90 advanced missile launchers, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing documents from a major Russian defence manufacturer.
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The report came a day after a senior Iranian official visited Moscow to discuss expanding a defence pact signed last year, and illustrates that Russia continues to deepen relations despite seeking the support of the United States for its narrative concerning the war in Ukraine.
The launchers are designed to carry Russia’s light multipurpose guided missile, known as the LMUR or Izdeliye 305. The precision weapon, capable of striking moving targets, entered military service in 2022 and has since been widely used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
The weapons are built for Russia’s Mi-28 attack helicopters, which Iran already possesses. Al Jazeera was not able to confirm if the order has been delivered.
The reported deal illustrates the strengthened military ties between Moscow and Tehran since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Western intelligence officials warn the relationship has further deepened amid the US war in the Middle East, despite President Donald Trump’s recent claims that Moscow was doing “very little, if anything” to help Iran.
The details of the deal emerged a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin met top Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei at the Kremlin. Rezaei delivered a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the visit, which was aimed at “further development of bilateral cooperation”, the Kremlin said in a statement released on Friday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with Putin in late October.
The two countries, both under heavy Western sanctions, have continued to pull closer together in recent years.
In January 2025, they signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty covering trade, military cooperation, science, culture, and education.
The treaty took effect in October of that year, but unlike Russia’s pact with North Korea,…