Putin pledges support for Iran as US war reignites
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to continue supplying assistance and necessary goods to Iran during this difficult period, including backing them with intelligence and military technology.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. | Credit: Vyacheslav Prokofyev / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
What happened
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a summit in Kyrgyzstan that Moscow will continue supplying "the assistance you need" and "the necessary goods" during "this difficult period." Since President Donald Trump "launched his war against Iran" in February, Russia "has backed the Iranians with intelligence, including on U.S. assets in the Persian Gulf," and "drone components," said The New York Times . Moscow has also been secretly helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles, the Financial Times reported. The U.S. and Iran traded airstrikes last night , in their "first serious combat since July," Reuters said.
Who said what
Russia's transfer of the "strategically important military technology" to build supersonic missiles "would require political approval from Russia's top leadership," Conflict Armament Research analyst Fabian Hinz told the Financial Times. Such missiles would be a "qualitatively new strategic weapons system capable of threatening U.S. Navy ships," former CIA military analyst Jim Lamson told the Financial Times. Iran has already done considerable damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East with a new ballistic missile it calls "the Kheibar Shekan, or 'Castle Breaker,'" USA Today said. The missile, likely developed "with the help of Chinese and Russian technology," can "evade American air defenses and strike with far greater precision."
What next?
Tehran vowed to respond to last night's airstrikes with more "crushing and devastating blows" and claimed its own counterstrikes killed several U.S. personnel in Jordan and Iraq.
