Report: Moscow, Tehran Advance Plans for Drone Facility

Facts

• The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Moscow and Tehran are cooperating on plans to construct a factory in Russia to make at least 6K Iranian-designed drones to be used in the Ukraine war.
• According to officials reportedly from a country aligned with the US, a high-level Iranian delegation flew to Russia in early January to visit the planned site for the factory and decide on details to start the project.
• This drone factory is allegedly part of a $1B deal between both countries, which the White House claims to be developing a "full-fledged defense partnership" that includes also fighter jet training.
• The Washington Post had reported in November that such plans were in the works, stating that Iran and Russia had finalized a deal that month after Russian officials visited Tehran.
• On Friday, the US Dept. of the Treasury announced new sanctions on eight senior officials of an Iranian drone manufacturer for their role in Tehran's supply of drones to Russia.
• Though Tehran acknowledged in November that it had provided drones to the Kremlin, its foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, stressed that shipments of a limited number of weapons were made before the Ukraine war.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Iran International, The Times of Israel, FOX News, and CNN.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by JNS. Iran is no longer seen by the West as a problem to be solved, but instead as an outright enemy that is helping to prolong the conflict in Ukraine. Tehran is on a direct collision course with the US and the West and has made a fatal mistake in choosing to side with Russia and Putin.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by PressTV. Western propaganda is spreading lies to try to justify the prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine. Despite having long-established defense cooperation with Moscow, Tehran is not taking part in any joint project to produce drones in Russia.

Predictions