Russia said to be delivering advanced air defenses to Iran as Tehran touts ties

Iranian officials say Russia has begun delivering advanced air defense and radar equipment to Iran after Tehran asked the Kremlin for the arms, the New York Times reported Monday.

While local Iranian media reported that Tehran had requested the equipment, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and another official confirmed to the Times that not only had the request been made, but that deliveries had started.

The development came with the Middle East on edge at the expectation of a direct Iranian attack on Israel as revenge for Israel’s alleged assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

Iran says Israel must be “punished” for Haniyeh’s assassination and has vowed to take action, raising worries that its response could bring the restive Middle East closer to all-out war. Iranian proxy group Hezbollah has also threatened to hit Israel from Lebanon following the assassination of its military leader Fuad Shukr in an attack near Beirut last week claimed by Israel.

Israel has said it is ready to defend itself and will hit back at any aggression. According to a report by the Ynet outlet, at a Sunday meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed with the country’s security chiefs the option of preemptively striking Iran to foil an imminent attack. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country must be ready to quickly go on the offensive in the event of an Iranian assault.

In April Iran carried out an unprecedented direct attack on Israel it said was revenge for the killing of a senior army commander in a Syria strike it blamed on Israel. The wave of some 300 missiles and drones was almost entirely intercepted by Israeli air defense systems in cooperation with the US and a roster of allies and Arab countries in the region. It caused only minor damage, though a young Bedouin girl was seriously hurt by falling shrapnel.

At the time, Israel apparently responded by striking an S-300 system near a nuclear site in Iran, though it did not confirm the matter.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) meeting with Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, in Tehran, on August 5, 2024 (Iranian Presidential Office / AFP)

The Times report came as Iranian state media said the country’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian told a visiting senior ally of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin that Tehran is determined to expand relations with its “strategic partner Russia.”

“Russia is among the countries that have stood by the Iranian nation during difficult times,” Pezeshkian told Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council, Iranian state media report.

In further comments reported during the meeting with Shoigu, Pezeshkian said Israel’s “criminal actions” in Gaza and the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran last week “are clear examples of the violation of all international laws and regulations.”

Tehran has for years been arming and training proxy groups around the Middle East including Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen’s Houthis to attack Israel and others.

War erupted on October 7 when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, during which terrorists abducted 251 people to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages.

Russia, which has largely backed Hamas and allied terror groups since the October 7 massacres, has condemned the killing of Haniyeh and called on all parties to refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a wider regional war.

Shared positions between Iran and Russia “in promoting a multipolar world will certainly lead to greater global security and peace,” Pezeshkian was quoted saying.

Shoigu was Russia’s defense minister before being moved to the security council in May. He was shown earlier by Russia’s Zvezda television meeting Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who serves as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

A long exposure picture shows the Iron Dome system firing an interceptor at a drone fired from Lebanon in the Golan Heights, August 5, 2024. (Maor Kinsbursky/Flash90)

The day after October 7, Iran’s proxy Lebanese terror group Hezbollah began attacking Israel’s northern border saying it was supporting Gaza. Amid near-daily attacks by Hezbollah including rocket and drone fire that has displaced tens of thousands of people, the Israel Defense Forces has hit back at the group.

The spiraling violence has raised concerns that it could escalate into a second war. Iran and Hezbollah’s vows to avenge the recent assassinations have further jolted those concerns. The US and some countries in the region are frantically trying to de-escalate the situation to prevent a regional war from exploding.