Russia supplies Iran with devices and software for surveillance and cyber warfare.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal with reference to American and Iranian officials.
Two years ago, the countries signed a cyber cooperation agreement that analysts say focused only on cyber defense. The situation changed after Iran began supplying Russia with drones for the war in Ukraine.
According to WSJ sources, after that, the Russian leadership decided that the benefits of developing military cooperation with Iran outweighed any risks. Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia has provided Iran with communications and surveillance equipment, as well as listening devices and lie detectors.
Presumably, Moscow has already shared with Iran more modern technologies that will allow Tehran to hack phones and software, say the interlocutors of the publication.
Data from the University of Toronto Citizen Lab research center indicate that the Russian company "Protey" has begun to provide technology to the Iranian mobile service provider Ariantel. According to Citizen Lab, the Proteus software allows Iranian authorities to monitor Iranians, including those "currently fighting the regime."
The coordinator of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, said that the United States is concerned and is carefully studying the latest reports about the possible deepening of interaction between Iran and Russia, including in the cyber sphere.
- According to Sky News, Iran has secretly supplied Russia with large quantities of bullets, mortar shells and other munitions and plans to send more. Russia, for its part, sends captured Western weapons from Ukraine to Iran. In Tehran, they are trying to redesign it.