Will Squeeze to the Fullest: What Valuable Things Iran Can Get from the Kremlin in Exchange for Missiles

Will squeeze to the full: what valuable things Iran can get from the Kremlin in exchange for missiles Victoria Grabovskaya

Iran has announced that it is supplying Russia with ballistic missiles. In response, Moscow is sending soybeans and wheat to Tehran. However, the barter between the countries may also include sending Russian Su-35 fighters to Iran.

However, cooperation between Moscow and Tehran may depend, in particular, on whether Russia, which is waging a war, has enough Su-35s to exchange them for ballistic missiles and Shaheds. Alexander Musienko, head of the Center for Military Legal Studies, told Channel 24 that this is a profitable exchange for Iran.

They cannot dictate terms

Currently, Su-35 fighters do not play a decisive role for Russia in the war in Ukraine. That is why the Russians can give the Iranians even the latest models of these aircraft, and eventually produce new ones.

At the same time, Iran is in no hurry, because it is Russia that is fighting. If it does participate in military actions, then with the help of its proxies – Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. Therefore, Tehran does not need to deliver anything immediately – it can wait six months or a year, – noted the head of the Center for Military and Legal Studies.

However, if Iran receives, for example, at least a squadron (from 12 to 14 units) of aircraft, and Russia is probably capable of providing this even now, it will at least somehow update its aircraft fleet. Also, if Tehran receives the S-400 air defense systems that Sergei Shoigu promised to transfer during his visit to Iran, this will also be good for the country. Because it has nowhere to get other systems, except in China, if it agrees to transfer them, he emphasized. For Russia, this situation is not a win-win situation, because it is losing its own aircraft or giving up air defense systems. However, the Kremlin, in his opinion, is forced to do this because there is nothing else left when its own resources are exhausted.

The Russians, according to him, are even running out of S-300 missiles, although they had a huge number of them in warehouses. This is confirmed by the reduction in the number of S-300 uses in Kharkov and the region compared to 2023. Currently, a significantly smaller number of these missiles are flying to the Kharkiv region, although, unfortunately, the enemy is using other types of weapons, in particular, KABs.

“The Russians are now in a situation where they cannot really dictate terms, so Iran will squeeze money, equipment, and weapons out of Russia to the fullest,” noted Alexander Musienko.

By the way. The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kovalenko commented on Iran's supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, noting that Tehran may take such a step in response to Washington's actions. The US is known to provide military aid to Israel, and Iran's conflict with it is under constant threat of escalation.