April 19, 2026
The Russia-Iran Partnership
This article was originally published in Lawfare.
The war in Ukraine was a turning point for the Russia-Iran partnership, spurred by Russia’s need to purchase and mass-produce thousands of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Now, it’s Tehran’s turn to ask for help, and the dangerous effects of this partnership are threatening American lives directly. Almost as soon as Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, Russia began sharing intelligence with Iranian troops—including the location of U.S. personnel and satellite photos of U.S. military assets positioned in the region. More recent reporting revealed that Moscow is also helping Tehran improve its drone operations based on lessons learned from the aerial battlefields over Ukraine and organizing shipments of one-way attack drones to boost Iran’s offensive capabilities. One of Washington’s main adversaries—armed with several thousand nuclear warheads—is now aiding its ally in a major war against the United States. If policymakers had any doubts in the past about the importance of disrupting the Russia-Iran partnership, this should be their wake-up call.
The United States needs to prioritize increasing the cost of Russia’s support for Iran; sanctions alone are not sufficient and often encourage U.S. adversaries to get more inventive in their evasion measures.
At its core, the relationship between these two U.S. adversaries is about mutual self-interest. In Moscow, Tehran has a reliable supplier of advanced weapons systems to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian proxies across the Middle East. From Iran, Russia receives proprietary military technology and a partner in international sanctions evasion schemes. Unless the Trump administration is willing to take aim at Russian weapons facilities like Yelabuga, the Iranian shadow fleet that ferries shipments across the Caspian Sea, and the Kremlin’s arms export agency, it will not be able to prevent Russia from resupplying Iran. It also will not be able to stop the Russians from helping Iran rebuild its weapons production capabilities after the end of Epic Fury.
Read the full article in Lawfare.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
The Axis of Upheaval Goes to WarThey are fine-tuning their cooperation to make their partners more resilient—and more dangerous to the United States—while limiting costs and risks....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Richard Fontaine
-
U.S. Troops Are Leaving Iraq. What Does That Mean for U.S. Influence in the Region?
Podcast
Hamzeh Hadad, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins NPR's Consider This to discuss U.S. forces withdrawing from Iraq after a two-decade-long milit...
By Hamzeh Hadad
-
Rational Security: The “All Takin’ and No Givin’” Edition
Podcast
Alex Zerden, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins the Rational Security podcast to discuss the week's biggest news in national security, incl...
By Alex Zerden
-
We Cannot Let the Lebanon-Israel Breakthrough Slip Away
Commentary
The US has helped to open a window. For the sake of Lebanon, Israel and the wider region, they must not allow it to close....
By Rachel Brandenburg
