IntelBrief: Iran’s Strategic Partnership with Russia Continues to Expand

Bottom Line Up Front

• Iran’s missile and armed drone technology advances continue attracting interest from Russian military leaders eyeing new ways to support Moscow’s faltering war effort in Ukraine.
• The Kremlin appears interested in new, highly capable Iranian cruise missiles similar to those that Tehran is supplying to its regional allies, such as the Houthi movement in Yemen.
• Amid Russia’s battlefield struggles in Ukraine, Iran is stepping up its efforts to assist the beleaguered regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and to pressure U.S. forces in the east of the country.
• Tehran’s naval drills in the Persian Gulf indicate that tensions with the United States might not ebb following the U.S.-Iran prisoner swap in mid-September.