According to unnamed officials from a U.S.-aligned country, Iran and Russia are advancing plans to build a factory in Russia that can produce at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones in the coming years. On January 5, a delegation led by Abdollah Mehrabi and Ghassem Damavandian traveled to Yelabuga, Russia, to tour the planned site. The two countries are also developing a version of the Shahed-136 suicide drone with a better engine that would travel faster and farther than the current model. The drone factory is part of a $1 billion deal between Tehran and Moscow.