The Telegraph: Russia secretly sent Iran about $2.5 billion in cash

Russia secretly transferred approximately $2.5 billion in cash to Iran, bypassing US sanctions. The money was transported by trains and ships.

This is reported by The Telegraph, citing documents provided to journalists.

According to the publication, the operations were carried out by the state-owned Promsvyazbank, which Moscow uses to operate under sanctions. The first batch was sent on August 13, 2018, a week after the US renewed sanctions against Iran.

Russiaʼs Promsvyazbank was nationalized in 2017 and reoriented to serve Russian defense companies. Its head, Pyotr Fradkov, is under US and UK sanctions.

In total, almost five tons of banknotes were sent in 34 batches in four months of 2018. Each contained between $57 million and $115 million. The cash was transported from the bankʼs Moscow office to the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran.

The first batch weighed about 110 kg and was worth $57.3 million. It was probably delivered by train to Astrakhan, then by ship across the Caspian Sea to the Iranian port of Amirabad, and then again by rail to Tehran.

It is assumed that such schemes may be used now. Iran supplies Russia with Shahed-136 drones and short-range ballistic missiles, which are used in the war against Ukraine.

Analysts interviewed by the publication believe that the transfers could have been payments for weapons, equipment, or support for Iranʼs security forces.

• The arms supply contracts between Iran and Russia were signed back in October 2021, before the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. As Bloomberg reported in January, citing sources, one of the packages was worth approximately $2.7 billion.
• It provided for the supply of hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles “Fath-360”, almost 500 other missiles of this class and about 200 surface-to-air missiles for air defense systems. In addition, Iran transferred to Russia “Shahed-136” kamikaze drones and the technology for their production.

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