The Kremlin handed over £120m in cash along with high-tech British and US weapons seized from Ukrainian troops to pay for the drones, a security source claimed. The cash and weapons were flown into a Tehran airport by a Russian military aircraft in the early hours of August 20, Sky News reported on Tuesday night. The Russian military cargo plane was carrying a British NLAW anti-tank missile, a US Javelin anti-tank missile and a US Stinger anti-aircraft missile. Satellite images showed two Russian jets at Mehrabad airport at 1.17am, having flown under cover of darkness. The aircraft remained at the airport for approximately three hours before taking off.
Iran could copy the technology
According to Sky News, the weapons were intended for the Ukrainian army but “fell into the wrong hands”. The suspicion, according to the source, is that Iran will examine the material, dismantle it and try to make its own. The source suggested the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had the ability to examine the weapons, understand the technology and then build them themselves. “They will probably be reverse engineered and used in future wars,” the source told Sky. A senior government source did not deny Sky’s report when approached by The Telegraph. On Tuesday night, the Ministry of Defense said it was urgently trying to verify the truth of the allegations made on the television channel. “We didn’t have a chance to pass it [the report] even to clarify anything that has been claimed. We are trying to assess it and verify the report,” a British military source said. Western governments will hope to put pressure on Iran to shut down any future deals between Moscow and Tehran. In exchange for the weaponry and cash, Iran handed Russia 160 unmanned aerial vehicles, including 100 Shahed-136 drones that have been used to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with devastating results. The drones – a cheap alternative to cruise missiles – were launched last month against cities including the capital Kiev as well as Lviv and Dnipro, targeting the energy grid and civilians. Drones, piloted from the ground, explode on impact.
