Russia received the first installment of Iranian drones to aid its war on Ukraine, U.S. officials said, marking a deepening of ties between the two countries and highlighting what lengths Russia is willing to go to restock its dwindling war supplies.
Russia received two types of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of conducting strikes and electronic warfare, the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series, Defense Department spokesperson Todd Breasseale told Politico Tuesday.
The shipment is only the beginning, and Iran could send “hundreds” of drones to Russia to contribute to the war on Ukraine, Breasseale told the outlet.
Russian officials visited Iran several times in July to look at weapons-capable drones, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN.
“We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs,” Sullivan told the outlet in a statement.
The transferred drones have already experienced some failures due to “bugs” and “the Russians are not happy,” an allied official told the Washington Post, who first reported on the transfer.
U.S. officials have been sounding the alarm about Russia’s closer bilateral relations with Iran since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hosted Russian president Vladimir Putin in Tehran in July, calling for the need of greater cooperation and justifying the war on Ukraine. The trip was the first time Putin traveled outside the former Soviet Union since the start of the war.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in July that Putin’s increased reliance on Iran and North Korea shows how “isolated” Russia has become, and Breasseale told Politico that Russia’s strong relationship with Iran is a “profound threat.”
“Russia deepening their alliance with Iran is something that the whole world — and especially those in the region — should watch and see as a profound threat,” Breasseale told the outlet. “We will vigorously enforce all U.S. sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian arms trade and we will stand with our allies and partners throughout the region against the Iranian threat.
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the U.N. under Donald Trump, scrutinized President Joe Biden’s willingness to negotiate with Iran on its nuclear program.
“Iran is selling drones to Russia and attacking American troops, and President Biden still wants to make a deal with the Ayatollahs. It’s a slap in the face to Israel and our Arab allies, and dangerous for America,” Haley said in a statement to National Review.
Biden traveled to the Middle East in July, focusing on negotiating an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. Recent reports indicate Iran upgraded its enriched uranium program, drawing closer to having the capability of building nuclear weapons.