Local media in Tatarstan also disclosed that an Iranian delegation led by Brigadier General Abdullah Mehrabi visited an open space in the city of Yelabuga in the Republic of Tatarstan on January 5.
The delegation also included Gasem Damavandyan, head of the Aerospace Research Institute of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and executive director of Iran Al-Quds Aerospace Industries. The Moscow Times noted that the latter is a “major defense manufacturer” that plays a central role in the production of military drones.
According to the preliminary agreement signed between Iran’s Al-Quds Aviation Industry Company and the economic management authority of Yerabuga City, the factory that Al-Quds Aviation Industry Company is about to open in Yerabuga City will produce at least 6,000 drones for the Ukrainian war but did not specify when it will be produced. Meanwhile, according to sources, the plant is only part of a $1 billion arms production deal between Moscow and Tehran.
Russia began buying Iranian drones in August 2022 to attack Ukrainian infrastructure. According to the British TV channel Sky News, on August 20, 2022, at Tehran Airport, Russia purchased 160 Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6 drones by transferring 140 million euros in cash to Iranian partners.
Moscow also shared with Tehran that they seized American and British weapons, including the NLAW and Javelin anti-tank systems and the Stinger MANPADS. The two sides sent weapons research experts to study them, hoping to replicate them.
When bombarding Ukraine with Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, Russia disguised them as its own Geran-2. Meanwhile, Moscow has denied buying drones from Iran. Russia also blackmailed out of a “food deal” if UN experts came to Kyiv to study the drone’s wreckage to determine its ownership.
In turn, Iran admitted for the first time on November 5, 2022, that it had provided drones to Russia. But dodgyly, according to Hosseini Amir Abdollahian, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the trade in these drones occurred a few months before the start of the war in Ukraine, when military drones began to be supplied to Russia in small quantities.
Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, had previously called Moscow’s use of Iranian drones “a piece of fake news” after the head of Iran’s foreign ministry acknowledged, saying Western news about it was “far-fetched and intended to Discredit Russia and Iran.”
It has been almost a year since to provide drones to Russia. Iran has not only received income from the sale of arms but also obtained some Russian military technology. Why didn’t Iran stop here and go to Russia to invest and build factories to produce drones when the Russian investment environment was not good during the Russo-Ukrainian War? There is only one answer, being afraid of being beaten by Israel and adopting a strategy that can’t be provoked and can afford to hide.
As we all know, although Israel has not publicly provided military assistance to Ukraine, the country is very concerned about the military exchanges and weapons cooperation between Iran and Russia because this means that Iran may obtain Russian weapon technology and even nuclear weapon-related technology from Russia, which is beneficial to Israel.
Saying that is flatly unacceptable. Therefore, Israel has been closely monitoring Iran’s military exchanges with Russia. After discovering and confirming the Iran-Russia military drone deal, Israel beat Iran several times.
On July 22, 2022, Israel launched a missile attack that destroyed an Iranian drone production plant near Damascus airport and a warehouse containing ready-made drones. Israel says Russia is planning to receive Iranian drones from the factory.
From January 29 to 31, 2023, multiple military targets in many places in Iran were violently attacked by air, and the losses were very serious. First, several factories and warehouse facilities in the eastern part of the Iranian army were attacked by drones. Then a large convoy of 25 Islamic Revolutionary Guard trucks was also attacked by missiles, causing large-scale explosions and fires.
Among the targets destroyed by the attack was a manufacturing plant that provided drones to Russia and at least one secret underground weapons warehouse that stored many missiles and other explosives. Earthquake in the Yishi area.
Israel’s “Jerusalem Post” reported on February 1 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN in an interview broadcast on the same day that Israel’s attack target is to produce weapons that can be shipped to Russia for use against Ukraine. Iranian weapons.
Netanyahu said Israel had been actively working to prevent Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and prevent Iranian weapons from flowing into Russia…these weapons are used against Ukraine.