reported<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe covert, multiyear program, code-named C430L, began in 2023 and continued during Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, according to an FT investigation based on leaked Russian correspondence, travel records, and military patents.<\/p>\n
The program enlisted experienced Russian missile engineers to help Tehran develop ramjet propulsion technology, which allows cruise missiles to sustain speeds several times the speed of sound while flying at relatively low altitudes.<\/p>\n
Military experts told the FT that the technology is almost certainly intended for anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. Such weapons would give U.S. and allied defenses less time to detect and intercept an incoming attack.<\/p>\n
“This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades,” Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst with the weapons-tracing group Conflict Armament Research, told the FT.<\/p>\n
Iran has built and flight-tested the Russian-assisted ramjet system, although there is no evidence that Tehran has deployed an operational missile using the technology, the FT reported.<\/p>\n
The program marks an expansion of Moscow’s military support for Tehran, which has gone beyond weapons technology to include intelligence that reportedly helped Iran target American forces during the war.<\/p>\n
The Washington Post reported in March that Russia was providing Tehran with targeting information, including the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft across the Middle East.<\/p>\n
A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters later found that Russian satellites conducted at least 24 surveys of areas in 11 Middle Eastern countries over a 10-day period, collecting imagery of U.S. and allied military bases, airports, oil fields, and other potential targets.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July that Russian satellite surveillance of U.S. bases closely tracked Iranian attacks, with imagery collected before strikes to assist with targeting and afterward to assess damage. CBS News reported that a senior U.S. official also confirmed earlier in the war that Moscow was providing intelligence on American positions.<\/p>\n
The assistance has drawn particular scrutiny because Iran demonstrated an ability to strike U.S. installations with considerable precision. A Washington Post analysis in May identified damage or destruction to 217 structures and 11 pieces of equipment at 15 American military sites across the region.<\/p>\n
The missile project was coordinated by Russia’s state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, and NPO Mashinostroyenia, a major Russian missile developer sanctioned by the United States since 2014.<\/p>\n
Russian engineers made repeated trips to Iran before Iran’s Defense Ministry formally signed the C430L contract in November 2023, according to the FT. By 2025, Russian specialists were analyzing Iranian flight-test data and advising Tehran on the ramjet’s fuel system, combustion, air intake and engine nozzle.<\/p>\n
The cooperation has expanded as Moscow and Tehran have drawn closer militarily. Iran supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones for its war in Ukraine and helped Moscow establish domestic production, while Russia has increasingly provided Tehran with weapons expertise and battlefield support.<\/p>\n
Nicole Grajewski, a professor at Sciences Po University in Paris, told the FT the secret missile program suggests Moscow is seeking to widen its confrontation with the West beyond Ukraine.<\/p>\n
“Russia doesn’t care as much about the red lines in the region,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Vahid Salemi\/AP) Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles capable of threatening U.S. aircraft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[34,2155,55,7225,69,7776,683,909],"class_list":["post-274916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-iran","tag-moscow","tag-russia","tag-russian","tag-tehran","tag-the-washington-post","tag-u-s","tag-vahid-salemi"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117201611255602247","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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