The Russia-Iran Axis

Deeper ties create risks for the West on battlefields far beyond Ukraine.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/AFP/Getty Images.)

The Russian military, burning through munition stockpiles unsustainably in Ukraine, has found an eager new supplier of drones and missiles. Arms transfers from Iran are boosting Russia’s faltering effort, but the sales’ second-order effects are a boon to the Islamic Republic’s malign objectives as well. 

Despite Tehran’s claims of neutrality, Iranian weapons first made their way to the Ukrainian battlefield months ago. Russian forces are using surveillance and “kamikaze” drones, which crash into their targets and explode on impact, according to reports in Western and Russia-friendly media. The drones are relatively unsophisticated but reliable and can evade Ukrainian air defenses when deployed in great numbers. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has used the new weapons to terrorize Ukrainian civilians and attack energy infrastructure. Russian aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people since October 7, and Ukrainians are suffering nationwide blackouts after drone and missile strikes rendered nearly one-third of the country’s power stations unusable. 

Yet the effects of Iran’s support will reverberate far beyond Eastern Europe. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Doug B.

    Thank-you Charlotte. As you report there are wide ranging impacts from a closer Russia-Iran military relationship. This article will not get as many comments as the latest article with the words Trump, Biden, or Abrams, but is more important and what I look for from The Dispatch. Not to say I don't read and comment on the other stuff as well.

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  2. Calvin Harris

    I don’t see why it would be overly dangerous for the West to interdict the supply kinetically if the intel was sufficient. Choke the support in the cradle.

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  3. John Lee

    Quiz:
    Putin's attack on citizens in Ukrainian cities is most like:
    a) the German Blitz on London
    b) Genghis Khan's siege of cities
    c) The Viking Russ conquest of Slavs living along Dnieper River
    John McNeill Lee

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    1. Kgfroehle

      d), e), and f), through z). Welcome to humanity.

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  4. Avatar photo
    EricRemcon@gmail

    This article on Iran’s ever entwining relationship with Russia allows me to raise one of my concerns that I do not hear mentioned. Now that Russia has declared itself a rouge nation with its invasion and is feeling the wrath of most of the civilized world, what is keeping it from handing off a few tactical nukes to its like minded partner Iran?

    We have been fretting about home grown nuclear development in Iran for decades. It would be much faster for them to import a ready-made bomb or two. Use one in a non-lethal attack to prove their seriousness then continually threaten its neighbors (and in turn US) to get what it wants, sanctions relief so it can continue rabble rousing in the region.

    Am I totally off base with this concern?

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  5. Avatar photo
    Chris L

    This all makes the current protests in Iran all the more important, to try to take down the Supreme Council. If that somehow occurs, this is all then rendered blissfully moot.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Logical

      Even if, a big if, Iran turns democratic, don't count on it giving up nuclear weapon ambitions.

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