London, UK, September 2 (ANI): Russia has allegedly been secretly helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles under a multiyear covert program, in what the Financial Times reported as one of the most significant known transfers of strategic military technology from Moscow to Tehran.
According to the Financial Times, the program, codenamed C430L, began in 2023 and involves some of Russia’s most experienced missile specialists. The program aims to help Iran develop a ramjet propulsion system that could enable cruise missiles to travel at several times the speed of sound.
The Financial Times investigation, based on leaked Russian correspondence, travel records and an analysis of military patents, found that the program continued during the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran.
“This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades,” Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, told the Financial Times.
“A program like this would require political clearance from the very top in Russia,” Hinz said.
The report said the ramjet technology could be used in anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. Supersonic cruise missiles combine high speed with the ability to fly at low altitude, reducing the time available for air and missile defense systems to detect and intercept them.
The technology could be particularly significant for Iran in the Gulf, where U.S. and allied forces operate advanced land- and sea-based defensive systems.
According to the Financial Times, Iran has already built and flight-tested the ramjet propulsion system, although there is no evidence that a Russian-assisted supersonic cruise missile has been deployed.
“For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten U.S. Navy vessels,” Jim Lamson, a former Iran-focused military analyst with the CIA, who is now at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told the Financial Times.
The leaked correspondence reviewed by the Financial Times also indicates that discussions over the program continued into this summer.
The reported cooperation comes amid increasingly close strategic and military ties between Russia and Iran. Tehran has supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones, which have become an important component of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and has assisted Russia in establishing domestic production of the drones.
Ukraine and Western officials have also accused Russia of providing Iran with battlefield assistance during its conflict with the U.S. and Israel, including satellite imagery, drone support and weapons components, the Financial Times reported.
The report comes at a time when the United States Central Command Forces said it had completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets, including air defense sites, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites, among others. CENTCOM said the strikes followed recent “attempted attacks” by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American service members.
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the American strikes also targeted a wedding celebration in Sirik, which resulted in more than 50 people being injured or killed.
Iran’s IRNA News Agency claimed that, in response to the American strikes, the IRGC Aerospace Force carried out a significant ballistic missile operation against the U.S. Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, specifically targeting RQ-4 and MQ-9 UAV hangars. It further claimed that the strikes resulted in the destruction of several drones and the deaths of multiple pilots and flight crew members.
The latest developments came as Iran vowed a decisive response shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz. They came after what Trump claimed was an Iranian attempt to add sea mines to the strait.
Trump added that any retaliation by Iran against the “very justified attack” would draw a stronger response from Washington, while also hinting that a much larger attack against Tehran could still be in store. (ANI)
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