Iran and Russia Struck a Secret Arms Deal Worth Half a Billion Euros
In the shadow of diplomacy, two of America’s most prominent adversaries quietly shook hands on a weapons agreement that could reshape the military balance in the Middle East, according to Reuters.
According to a report published Sunday by the Financial Times, Iran and Russia signed a secret 500 million euro arms deal in Moscow last December. The agreement, backed by leaked Russian documents and confirmed by people familiar with the matter, commits Russia to supplying Iran with 500 shoulder-fired “Verba” missile launchers and 2,500 “9M336” missiles powerful, portable weapons that a single soldier can carry and fire. Deliveries are expected to roll out in three stages between 2027 and 2029.
The deal was quietly negotiated between Russia’s state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, and representatives of Iran’s Ministry of Defence. Tehran reportedly made its formal request as far back as last July, just weeks after a dramatic turn of events that left Iran’s military establishment deeply shaken.
In June of last year, U.S. forces launched strikes on Iran’s three major nuclear sites as part of a broader campaign alongside Israel. President Donald Trump declared the facilities destroyed. But a preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment told a more complicated story suggesting the strikes had set Iran’s nuclear program back by only a few months. Iranian officials, for their part, insisted their capabilities had fully recovered and emerged even stronger.
Against that turbulent backdrop, Iran’s move to secure thousands of advanced missiles from Russia feels less like a routine purchase and more like a calculated statement, a signal that Tehran is actively preparing for whatever comes next.
Russia and Iran already share a formal strategic partnership, though it carries no mutual defence obligations. Still, the two nations have been growing visibly closer. Just this month, a Russian naval corvette conducted joint exercises with the Iranian navy in the Gulf of Oman, a quiet but pointed show of solidarity on the open water.
