Russia is sending air defense systems to Iran as the authoritarian state prepares an attack on Israel, officials in Tehran say.
Two Iranian officials, one of whom was a member of the Iranian military, told the New York Times that Russia has begun supplying advanced radar and air defense equipment.
It is not known exactly what equipment Iran has requested, but Iran already has several Russian S-300 air defense systems.
Just yesterday, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Security Council and former defense minister, met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior security officials to support the country in the Middle East.
Shoigu said: “We are ready to fully cooperate with Iran in various areas.”
Pezeshkian thanked Moscow for supporting Iran in “difficult times” and added that he wanted to strengthen ties with Russia.
Iran is currently preparing a major attack on Israel in retaliation for the killings of Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month.
Russia sends air defense systems to Iran as authoritarian state prepares imminent attack on Israel (File photo)
Russia and Iran have grown closer as allies in recent years
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered his country’s military to take revenge for the killings of top Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month.
The top US diplomat, Anthony Blinken, told the G7 over the weekend that there was little information yet about the form of the expected attack, but that it would likely happen as early as late Tuesday, if it happens at all.
US and Israeli officials are confident that Iran will work with its allies in the region, known as the Axis of Resistance, which includes groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Behind closed doors, the US is working to reduce tensions between Israel, Iran and their allies.
In a desperate bid to ease tensions, Biden yesterday called Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who helped shoot down Iranian drones and missiles in an earlier confrontation in April. Blinken also called senior officials in Qatar and Egypt, the main brokers seeking a ceasefire in the 10-month war between Israel and Hamas.
“We are engaged in intensive diplomacy virtually around the clock, with a very simple message: All sides must refrain from escalation,” Blinken said after meeting with other senior officials at the White House.
“It is also critical that we break this cycle by achieving a ceasefire in Gaza,” Blinken said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) meets with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu (L) in Tehran, Iran, August 5, 2024
A banner of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, photographed with Hamas Political Bureau head Ismail Haniyeh during the inauguration ceremony, hung on Veliasr Street in Tehran, Iran
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads a prayer at the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard, who were killed in an assassination blamed on Israel
People gather during a funeral procession for Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas and his bodyguard who were killed in an assassination in Tehran, Iran
Despite this, the Israeli army continues to wage war against Palestine and Hezbollah.
An Israeli rocket attack today killed four Hezbollah fighters in a house in the southern Lebanese city of Mayfadoun.
Meanwhile, eight Palestinians were killed in two IDF raids in the West Bank. Four were killed in the Jenin area and four in the Tubas district.
Israel has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to support Western allies in their own geopolitical struggles long before October 7.
In 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky angrily asked an Israeli politician why they had blocked the delivery of Iron Dome missiles to Ukraine and then refused to impose appropriate sanctions on Russia.
Iranian Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Mohammad Bagheri (R) meets with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu (L) in Tehran, Iran
People take part in a march organized by Palestinian and Lebanese youth organizations in the southern Lebanese city of Saida, August 5, 2024, to protest the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
People watch as the bodies of unidentified Palestinians are buried in a mass grave after the bodies were handed over by Israel, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 5, 2024
Then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed that Israel should remain neutral because of its role as a mediator in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
But Zelensky told Israeli lawmakers: “Mediation can take place between states, not between good and evil.”
A Ukrainian official also claimed at the time that Bennett tried to convince Zelensky to accept Putin’s mocking demands to end the bloodiest conflict on European soil in decades.
“If I were you, I would think of the lives of my people and accept the offer,” the official said Bennett told Zelensky.
“Bennett is essentially telling us to surrender, and we have no intention of doing so,” the Ukrainian official said at the time.