Iran smuggled drones into Russia using boats and state airline, sources reveal

Iran has used boats and a state-owned airline to smuggle new types of advanced long-range armed drones to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine, sources inside the Middle Eastern country have revealed.

On that occasion, the 10-man Russian delegation selected six Mohajer-6 drones, which have a range of around 200km and carry two missiles under each wing, along with 12 Shahed 191 and 129 drones, which also have an air-to-ground strike capability.

Unlike the better-known Shahed 131 and 136 drones, which have been heavily used by Russia in kamikaze raids against Ukrainian targets, the higher-flying drones are designed to deliver bombs and return to base intact.

The disclosures demonstrate the increasing closeness between Iran and Russia, which share a hostility towards the US, since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Last August, US officials said that Iran had begun showcasing the Shahed 191 and 129 drones in June to Russia, and said they expected Tehran to sell them to Moscow. Mohajer-6 drones have been downed in Ukraine since September, with officials displaying one in November to the Guardian in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, the US, the UK and other western governments have been monitoring the arms cooperation keenly, partly in an effort to prevent it from escalating. Moscow has also sought to buy ballistic missiles, although there is not any public evidence that Tehran has agreed to send them.

Russia may have been keen to obtain the more advanced drones, loosely comparable with the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, because Ukraine has become increasingly effective in stopping the smaller suicide drones, which have to fly in low before striking.

Most of the drones sent to Russia were secretly picked up by an Iranian vessel from a base on the coast of the Caspian Sea and then transferred at sea to a Russian navy boat, sources said. Others were sent on a state-owned Iranian airline, they added.

The drones were produced in the same military factory in the central city of Isfahan that was targeted on 28 January by what was believed to have been an Israeli drone. US officials have indicated they believe Israel was motivated by its own national security concerns, and was not trying to intervene in the Ukraine war.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been at the forefront of the growing bond, with senior leaders, Khalil Mohammadzadeh, Suleiman Hamidi and Ali Shamkhani, playing central roles in the drone exports to Russia.

The Mohajer-6 drones received by Russia in November can remain in the air for six hours and operate on electric power. They can carry 40kg bombs and contain high-precision imaging and targeting systems.