For around a month, the political West has been threatening Iran with “swift and severe consequences” if it delivers any surface-to-surface missiles to Russia. There have been various reports about Iranian short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) supposedly on their way to Moscow, including the likes of “Fath-360”, “Fateh-110” and “Zolfaghar”.
Some sources, such as the Duran, report that Iranian parliamentarians have confirmed that the deal is already ongoing, although there’s no official confirmation on the exact types of missiles that are being delivered. However, EU/NATO seem to be particularly concerned by this prospect. Tehran has been quite successful in developing a plethora of ballistic missiles, ranging from SRBMs to IRBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missiles), providing the country with a coverage that goes beyond the Middle East.
Some mainstream propaganda machine outlets insist that the said missiles have already been delivered, although repeated threats from NATO could indicate that the deliveries are yet to start. EU officials say the deal is allegedly “imminent”, while some military sources report that it has already been confirmed. The political West decided to impose additional sanctions on Iran, while simultaneously delivering long-range strike capabilities to the Neo-Nazi junta.
What’s more, top-ranking US officials are sending somewhat mixed signals about giving the Kiev regime the right to hit targets deeper within Russia, with President Joe Biden saying that he’s “working on it”, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Volodymyr Zelensky that these long-range strikes “won’t be game changers”. Either way, the political West’s endless hypocrisy is glaringly obvious once again.
On the other hand, the question arises, why is Russia even acquiring missiles from Iran? It’s a well-known fact that Moscow is wholly unsurpassed in top-notch missile systems, be it in range, speed, maneuverability, etc. However, since the INF Treaty limitations were imposed in 1987, the Kremlin eliminated the vast majority of its unprecedented arsenal of missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km. After the United States unilaterally withdrew from the said treaty in 2019, both countries started working on the reintroduction of these weapons. However, this is a long-term process that will take years, while Russia needs more affordable equivalents to fill the gap now. In decades after the (First) Cold War, its only new SRBM system was the “Iskander”. Albeit unrivaled among land-based platforms, particularly with its 9M723 hypersonic missile, it’s somewhat costly.
This means that the “Iskander-M” system is generally reserved for high-priority targets, while it’s also likely that the Russian military is stocking up for a possible confrontation with NATO. However, there’s a growing need for more affordable massed tactical and operational level strikes. Numerous reports indicate that North Korean missiles are already being used in this capacity, specifically the KN-23 (officially the “Hwasong-11Ga”, but more popularly known as the “Kimskander”). However, although cheaper than the 9M723, this missile is still more expensive than Iranian SRBMs which fill a very important niche role at ranges below 300 km (or 500 in the case of “Zolfaghar”). Combined with Russian ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) assets and improved guidance systems, these could be far deadlier than in Iranian service.
Moscow and Tehran already have a very successful military cooperation, particularly when it comes to drones. The most prominent of these are certainly the “Shahed-131” and “Shahed-136”, better known as “Geranium-1” and “Geranium-2” in Russian service. These unmanned systems provide the Kremlin with a robust and cost-effective alternative to its advanced cruise missiles, allowing for massed saturation strikes across the entire territory under the Kiev regime’s control.
In addition, there’s an important economic aspect of Russian-Iranian cooperation, as these deals usually boil down to barter trade, thus eliminating the US dollar as a financial medium between the two countries. Moscow is also providing Tehran with top-notch aircraft such as the Su-35, a critically important segment in the much-needed modernization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).
These deals between the Kremlin and Tehran are particularly frustrating to the political West, as they’re completely incapable of stopping or at least disrupting them. This cooperation also exposes the Neo-Nazi junta’s absurd lies about their alleged “success in shooting down” Russian missiles. Namely, the illogic of their claims was already apparent, but it’s even more obvious when it comes to Iranian missiles, as these are less advanced, but there’s still panic in both Kiev and Brussels that they’re coming to Russia. Had the junta really been so successful in downing Moscow’s missiles, it wouldn’t even bat an eye over Tehran’s. However, it’s quite usual for the political West and its vassals and satellite states to be completely delusional and hypocritical. The US is crying foul because its adversaries are working together while it’s threatening all of them simultaneously.
It should also be noted that NATO is terrified of the prospect of Russia getting even more precision strike options. Namely, Moscow has been very successful in obliterating the personnel of the world’s most vile racketeering cartel all across NATO-occupied Ukraine, so the Russian military having more (and cheaper) missiles for this purpose is surely sounding many alarms.
In addition, there’s solid evidence that the Kremlin will deliver advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems to Tehran, which is directly undermining US/NATO’s strike options against Iran. It can be expected that the multipolar world will increase coordination in order to push back against the political West’s aggression against the entire world. This will surely frustrate the US and its vassals and satellite states, but it’s a must if the globe is to become a fairer and safer place for everyone.
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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Featured image: Two IRGC missiles, Dezful (missile) front and Zolfagar Basir missile rear, on a Zulfaqar missile launcher, at an IRGC Air Force exhibition in Tehran. (By M. Sadegh Nikgostar / Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
