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.
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