Russia Reportedly Helping Iran’s War Effort With Drone Parts, Ammunition and Explosives: Report

Russia continues sending military equipment to Iran in the form of drone components, ammunition and explosives, according to a new report.

NBC News detailed that it obtained documents from a European government describing the shipments, which are going through the Caspian Sea.

The total amount of equipment provided has not been disclosed, nor the amount of such shipments that have taken place since the war began.

Different reports have detailed ways in which Moscow has helped Tehran’s war effort over the past months, including satellite imagery used to target U.S. bases in the region and intelligence.

The Jerusalem Post also reported in June that Russia provided Iran with a list of over 50 Israeli energy infrastructure targets.

The outlet detailed that the list consists of 55 critical locations and could have allowed Tehran to launch precision missile strikes against Israel’s energy grid.

The alleged supply of materials comes as another report is claiming that Iranian leadership is taking steps to widen the war with the U.S. and Israel.

The Wall Street Journal cited Arab intelligence officials who claim that Tehran is seeing a “strategic shift” and have begun taking steps to “get their forces ready to widen the war.”

The steps include ramping up drone and missile production, as well as conversations with proxies in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon to escalate conflicts elsewhere in the region.

One example was the providing of a list of Saudi targets to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the report added. The Iranian revolutionary guard has also sent neighbors a list of energy facilities that it said will strike if hostilities escalate again.

There are no signs that diplomacy will prevail. Iran has most recently said the fact the deadline to reach a deal with the U.S. as part of the memorandum of understanding the countries reached earlier this year is “irrelevant” given renewed hostilities.

“The 60-day discussion is no longer relevant,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said, according to remarks published by state-run news agency IRNA.

Baqaei went on to say the period was set to kick off negotiations over the “nuclear issue” and the “lifting of sanctions,” but that has not been the case because the U.S. violated the terms and prevented them from taking place.

President Donald Trump, on his end, said there is a backchannel for peace talks but Iran “should put up the white flag of surrender.” “I have no time schedule,” Trump told Fox News’ Trey Ingst on Monday. “They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” he added.