A Russian delegation visited the Kashan airfield in central Iran at least twice in the past month to inspect the Shahid-191 and Shahid-129 combat drones. Probably, the Russian Federation wants to get them for use in the war against Ukraine.
This was reported by CNN with reference to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The journalists also have a satellite image of this airfield on the day of the Russian delegationʼs visit.
Both types of these drones are capable of carrying high-precision missiles.
"We have information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs, including combat ones. We believe that an official Russian government delegation recently attended a presentation of Iranian combat UAVs. We are publishing these images, taken in June, showing Iranian UAVs that were being inspected by the Russian delegation that day. This shows that Russia is interested in acquiring such UAVs in Iran," said Sullivan, adding that the Russian delegation was at the airfield in June and July.
- On July 11, Sullivan announced that Iran would soon provide Russia with "up to several hundred UAVs" and train the Russian military to use them.
- After that, Iran stated that it has not sold military equipment to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine and opposes further escalation of hostilities.