Iran sold USD $4 billion worth of weapons to Russia since 2021, including $2.7 billion worth of missiles, according to a Western security official who spoke to Bloomberg News. According to the official, Iran supplied Russia with hundreds of Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles under a contract concluded in late 2021. In early 2023, Iran signed another contract worth USD $1.75 billion to supply Russia with Shahed-136 suicide drones and help it establish domestic production of the Geran-2, a Russian version of the drone. Iran also provided Russia with approximately 200 air defense missiles, according to the Bloomberg News report.
News Briefs
December 22, 2025
Iran held missile drills in Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad, according to state media reporting. The Telegram, a state-sponsored news channel, and Nournews, a semi-official outlet, published videos of what appeared to be missile launches. Later, state media denied that missiles were tested, instead claiming the circulated images were of "high-altitude aircraft." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to brief U.S. President Donald Trump that any expansion to Iran's ballistic missile arsenal posed a threat that may require swift action.
-- Reuters
December 16, 2025
A joint investigation by the Washington Post and PBS Frontline found increased construction activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground site near Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure in June. Two tunnel entrances had been fortified and there was evidence of continuing tunneling activity. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, confirmed that Iran was still using the site. Iranian officials have said that Pickaxe Mountain is intended for centrifuge manufacturing, though analysts say the site could be used for uranium enrichment or storage of enriched uranium.
-- PBS News
December 13, 2025
Iranian authorities seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf of Oman and detained 18 crewmembers, according to Iranian media. The detained crew included nationals of Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.
-- Reuters
December 12, 2025
U.S. special operations forces boarded a ship in the Indian Ocean in November and seized dual-use items bound from China to Iran. According to U.S. officials, the seized items had applications in conventional weapons and were being delivered to companies that procure goods for Iran's missile program. The cargo was destroyed after being seized.
-- Wall Street Journal
December 8, 2025
A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Iran has resumed large-scale production of ballistic missiles. The official said Iran is prioritizing reconstruction of its ballistic missile arsenal. Unnamed Western diplomats claimed in November that Iran had begun to manufacture missiles using older production methods in the absence of planetary mixers, key pieces of production equipment that Israel had destroyed in its strike.
-- Ynet News
December 5, 2025
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy carried out an exercise in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. During the exercise, the IRGC Navy launched Qadr 110, Qadr 380, and Qadr 360 cruise missiles and "303"-type ballistic missiles at simulated targets.
-- Reuters
December 5, 2025
Standard Chartered bank settled a £1.5bn lawsuit brought by its investors in U.K. court. The plaintiffs argued that Standard Chartered's past breaches of sanctions on Iran were more widespread than the bank had acknowledged. In 2019, Standard Chartered had settled charges brought by U.S. and U.K. authorities related to sanctions violations. The financial terms of the current settlement have not been disclosed.
-- Financial Times
November 27, 2025
Iran has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah since late 2024 using money exchanges and other companies in located in Dubai, in order to help Hezbollah rebuild after its war with Israel. The transactions are often carried out using the hawala system of parallel accounts between dealers in Dubai and Lebanon. According to Arab officials, Iran has also sent couriers with small amounts of cash and jewelry to avoid Lebanese airport controls that have been tightened as a result of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement. According to a senior U.S. official, the United States is also concerned about funds being smuggled from to Hezbollah through Turkey and Iraq and wants Lebanon to shut down the Hezbollah-linked financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
-- Wall Street Journal
November 25, 2025
Imen Gostar Raman Kish, a company controlled by senior officials in Iran's Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), a military nuclear research institute, advertises equipment containing radiation-detection tubes manufactured by U.K.-based company Centronic Ltd. The Mindex Center, the export agency of Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), also advertises the same equipment. The chairman and vice-chairman of Imen Gostar are both senior SPND officials sanctioned by the United States, and its CEO traveled to Russia in 2024 as part of an Iranian delegation seeking technologies usable in nuclear weapons development. Imen Gostar also claims to sell plastic-scintillator detectors that contain components produced by U.S.-based company Eljen Technology as well as a photomultiplier tube produced by a brand controlled by Exosens, Centronic's France-based parent company. There is no evidence that the Western manufacturers knowingly sold the components to Iran.
-- Financial Times