Russian gifts for Tehran? Moscow sends the largest transport planes to Iran

Russia's largest military transport aircraft, the An-124 Ruslan, landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport on Saturday, sparking speculation among Western military analysts that the Kremlin may have transferred advanced S-400 Triumf air defense systems and Su-35 or Yak-130 aircraft to the Iranian regime. Such flights have been going on for over a month.

TheDefenseNews, a website specializing in defense issues, stressed on Sunday that the flights, at a time of strong regional tensions and growing military cooperation between Russia and Iran, countries under Western sanctions, could be a turning point in the balance of military forces in the Middle East, seriously destabilizing the region.

Analysis of the last flight using ADS-B satellite images confirmed that the An-124 with the tail number RA-82040 took off on Friday from Irkutsk, where the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which produces advanced Yak-130 training and combat aircraft, is located.

Saturday's transport was part of intense Russian-Iranian air operations conducted for several weeks. The first flights of An-124 and Il-76 aircraft were recorded between October 1 and 7. They started from Irkutsk, Moscow and Ulyanovsk – places associated with Russian production plants.

Subsequent flights on October 13 and 23 coincided with media reports about the transfer of elements of the S-400 air defense system from the Ulyanovsk plant.

Russian heavy transports also arrived at air bases in Tehran between October 26 and 27. Satellite photos of the Mehrabad airport, cited by TheDefenseNews, revealed the presence of fuel tankers and transport vehicles surrounding the An-124 plane, which was closely guarded by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Radar activity also temporarily increased in the area.

The next wave of deliveries was observed between October 30 and November 1. It coincided with Iran's ballistic missile tests.

This series of flights suggests that hundreds of tons of sensitive military equipment may have already been transported from Russia to Iranian territory, confirming reports that Moscow is building a large-scale military air bridge to Iran.

The S-400 Triumf system is Russia's most effective long-range surface-to-air missile system, designed to destroy stealth fighters, cruise missiles and ballistic targets at a range of 400 km and at an altitude of 30 kilometers. (PAP)

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