Russia has been secretly aiding Iran's supersonic missile development for years, report says

Russia has been helping Iran to develop supersonic cruise missiles in secret for years, including through the US-Iran war, according to a report.

Moscow has enlisted some of its most experienced specialists to help Iran to develop a new class of missile capable of threatening US aircraft carriers and warships stationed in the Middle East, according to an investigation by the Financial Times.

The programme’s central objective was to help Iran to develop a special ‘ramjet’ propulsion system that would allow its cruise missiles to fly at several times the speed of sound, the report said.

Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles, framed the programme as a major transfer of sensitive technology from Moscow that Tehran had been after for decades and would require authorisation “from the very top”.

The transfer of technology under codename C430L began in 2023 and has continued into the US war against Iran, the newspaper reported, citing leaked Russian correspondence, travel records and military patents.

Several investigations in recent months have uncovered alleged transfers of military technology from Moscow to Tehran despite the Trump administration’s efforts to play mediator and reopen lines of communication with the Kremlin.

A confidential document uncovered by The Economist earlier this year, suggested that Russia had considered providing Iran with the tools and training needed to fight American soldiers in the Gulf since the conflict in the Middle East erupted.

The document, believed to have been drafted by Russia, was said to outline how Moscow could provide Iran with 5,000 short-range fibre-optic drones, longer-range satellite-guided drones, and guidance on use.

Western intelligence officials warned in March that Russia was sending drones to Iran to support its war effort against the US and Israel, following claims the Kremlin was also relaying intelligence about the movements of American troops, ships and aircraft.

Moscow was said to have begun its drone deliveries in early March to be completed by the end of the month, as the United States and Israel traded barrages of missile fire with Iran.

Ukrainian intelligence, acquainted with the Iranian care packages running the other way, has also accused Moscow of feeding Tehran with data used to strike American forces in the Gulf.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, told Alastair Campbell on The Rest is Politics: Leading podcast that he had tried to raise the issue, but feared US negotiators were being blinded by their close contact with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

“I said this publicly. Did we hear a reaction from the US to Russia that they have to stop it? The problem is they trust Putin. And it’s a pity,” he said.

Mr Zelensky judged that President Trump’s lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had “spent too much time” with Putin and his senior officials during mediating efforts to end the war in Ukraine.