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MapRussia Holds Talks With Iran, May Supply Advanced Air Defense Systems
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Russia and Iran negotiating potential S-400 air defense supply. Russia and Iran reportedly agreed a 2024 deal to supply 90 advanced missile launchers.
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Talks for Air Defenses
Russia held talks with Iran and may supply advanced air defense systems, The Telegraph reported, as Tehran signaled renewed willingness to negotiate with Washington over its nuclear program. Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said in an interview that Rezaei and Putin held a cordial three-hour meeting in a highly coordinated atmosphere to discuss strategic and high-level cooperation. Jalali said the meeting outlined Iran’s major decisions to accelerate construction of the Rasht-Astara railway and complete the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and he said operational aspects of transferring Russian natural gas to Iran were also reviewed in detail.
Jalali added that the discussions reflected full alignment between Tehran and Moscow on deepening bilateral and regional relations, and he said Iran conveyed its firm position on repeated U.S. violations of commitments and the ineffectiveness of direct negotiations without genuine guarantees. Jalali said Russia acknowledged discriminatory treatment of Iran outside the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and he said senior Russian officials emphasized Iran’s full compliance with its commitments while condemning attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
S-400 Request and Launchers
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei asked Russia for S-400 air defense systems in a personal letter, and Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei traveled to Russia on November 5 carrying that message, The Telegraph reported. A senior Iranian official told The Telegraph that Tehran was “optimistic” that Putin would deliver the systems, and the report said it did not establish that a deal had been finalized or give a delivery timetable. The Telegraph also reported that confidential documents showed a secret parliamentary committee recommended strengthening military ties with Russia and China before the war began in February, including bolstering Iran’s “air defense, missiles and drones.”
The Financial Times reported that Russia agreed in 2024 to supply Iran with 90 advanced missile launchers designed to carry the LMUR or Izdeliye 305, and Al Jazeera said it was not able to confirm if the order has been delivered. Al Jazeera said the launchers are built for Russia’s Mi-28 attack helicopters, which Iran already possesses, and it said the precision weapon entered military service in 2022 and has been used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Partnership Without a Defense Treaty
Iran and Russia signed a treaty on cooperation that Al Jazeera Centre for Studies described as expanding economic and military cooperation, and it said the signing happened in Moscow on Friday, January 17, 2025. The center said the treaty text, published on the official website of the Iranian presidency, comprised 47 articles detailing economic and military aspects and cultural dimensions, and it said the agreement emphasized security and defense cooperation through joint exercises and military-technical cooperation. The center said the treaty pledged that if either party were attacked, the other would not provide assistance to the aggressor, and it said Moscow and Tehran pledged not to allow their territory to be used to support separatist movements or other acts threatening stability and integrity.
The center also said the treaty did not reach a bilateral defense treaty akin to the bilateral defense treaty between Russia and North Korea, and it said it did not address armament and weapons exchanges between Russia and Iran. The center’s account framed the relationship as cooperation without a mutual defense clause, while it said Western accusations that Iran supplied Russia with Shahed drones used in its war against Ukraine remained controversial.