Seven senior Russian missile specialists visited Iran over the past year, around the time of Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The weapons experts were booked to travel from Moscow to Tehran aboard two flights on April 24 and September 17 of last year, according to the news agency, which reviewed travel records and employment data.
Iran’s missile strikes on Israel took place on April 13, 2024 and Oct. 1, 2024.
Six of the seven men’s passport numbers included the prefix “20,” signifying a passport used for official state business, according to the report.
While the news agency was unable to determine what the experts were doing in Iran, it likely involved missiles and missile defense. Two of the men specialize in air-defense missile systems, three in artillery and rocketry, one has a background in advanced weapons development and another worked at a missile-testing range, according to the report.
All seven hold high rank in the Russian military, with two being lieutenant-colonels.
According to the news agency, among those booked for the April flight was Lt. Col. Andrei Gusev, 45, deputy director of General Purpose Rockets and Artillery Munitions and the Russian Defense Ministry’s Penza Artillery Engineering Institute.
A senior Iranian defense ministry official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters that Russian missile experts made several trips to Iranian missile production sites last year, including two underground facilities. Some of the visits took place in September.
A Western defense official, also anonymous, told Reuters that Russian missile experts in September visited an Iranian missile base nine miles west of the port of Amirabad on Iran’s Caspian Sea coast.
Russia has moved closer to Iran in order to obtain drones, ballistic missiles and other war materiel for its fight against Ukraine.
The two countries reportedly secured an agreement in Nov. 2022 to begin building hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles on Russian soil.
In exchange, Bloomberg reported in Sept. 2024 that Russia was sharing nuclear expertise and technology with the Islamic Republic.
Both of the visits reported by Reuters occurred prior to Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran in late October 2024. The operation, called “Days of Repentance” by Israel, reportedly disabled or destroyed most of the Islamic Republic’s air defense systems.