Russia is handing over to Iran the weapons captured in Ukraine to the US and NATO - intelligence
Iran has already managed to convert such weapons to suit its needs
Russia is seizing some of the weapons and equipment provided by the United States and NATO that remained on the battlefield in Ukraine and sending them to Iran, where, according to US intelligence, Tehran will try to redesign these systems.
Source. CNN writes about this with reference to four sources familiar with the matter.
According to them, Russia is supplying the mined military equipment to Iran for dismantling and analysis so that the Iranian military can try to create its own version of Western weapons. Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been reporting to the United States on cases of loss of American weapons on the battlefield. However, U.S. officials do not believe that the problem is too widespread.
However, it is still unclear whether Iran has managed to reassemble and replicate the American equipment supplied to Ukraine, but Tehran has managed to do so in the past. For example, Iran's Toophan anti-tank guided missile was based on the US BGM-71 TOW missile in the 1970s. In 2011, the Iranians intercepted a Locheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone and reconstructed it to strike Israel.
"Iran could do the same with the Stinger, which would threaten both civilian and military aviation in the entire region. Hamas or Hezbollah could use the Javelin with a reverse design to threaten Israel's Merkava tank. In the hands of Iranian proxies, these weapons pose a real threat to the Israeli armed forces," said Jonathan Lord, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
"In exchange for Iranian support in Ukraine, Russia is offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including missiles and air defense," said Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.
As a result of heavy losses of military equipment and ammunition in the war against Ukraine, Russia has begun purchasing drones, artillery and tank shells from Iran. According to the White House, Iran is receiving billions of dollars worth of military equipment from Russia, including fighter jets, radar systems, and helicopters.
Background. According to intelligence, on March 9, Russia used missiles that it had been manufacturing for a month.
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