Financial Times:

By Miles Johnson and Charles Clover in London and Max Seddon in Berlin

Iran agreed a secret €500mn arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles in its most significant effort to rebuild air defences shattered during last year’s war with Israel.

The agreement, signed in Moscow in December, commits Russia to deliver 500 man-portable “Verba” launch units and 2,500 “9M336” missiles over three years, according to leaked Russian documents seen by the FT and several people familiar with the deal.

The Verba is one of Russia’s most modern air-defence systems, a shoulder-fired, infrared-guided missile capable of targeting cruise missiles, low-flying aircraft and drones.

Operated by small mobile teams, it allows ground forces to quickly create dispersed defences without relying on fixed radar installations that are more vulnerable to strikes.

The leaked details of the Iran-Russia deal have emerged just as Donald Trump has assembled a vast US military force in the Middle East, threatening Tehran with strikes unless it accepts curbs on its nuclear programme.

Under the €495mn Verba contract, the deliveries are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 through 2029. One person familiar with the transaction said it was possible a smaller number of the systems could have been delivered to Iran early.

Tehran formally requested the systems last July, according to a contract seen by the FT, just days after the end of the 12-day conflict in which the US briefly joined Israel in strikes on Iran’s three key nuclear facilities.

During that campaign, Iran’s integrated air-defence network was heavily degraded, enabling Israel’s air force to rapidly establish and sustain air superiority over large parts of the country.

Russia would likely have viewed the deal as a way to help rebuild ties with Iran after it conspicuously failed to come to its ally’s aid during the 12-day war with Israel, a former senior US official said.

“They want Iran to remain their partner. And so even if they can’t react in the middle of a crisis, they’re going to look after the crisis to try to patch up the relationship,” they said.

Go to link