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Tehran, Moscow advance plans to design drones, Iran to manufacture 6,000 Shahed UAVs in factory in Russia

Shahed 129 UAV seen during the Eqtedar 40 defence exhibition in Tehran. [Photo: Wikimedia/ Fars Media Corporation]

Tehran and Moscow have advanced plans to manufacture 6,000 Shahed UAVs in a factory in Russia’s Yelabuga, about 600 miles east of Moscow, The Wall Street Journal, reported.

The report quoting officials said the two countries are aiming to build a faster drone that could pose new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses, the officials said.

A high-level Iranian delegation flew to Russia in early January to visit the planned site for the factory and hammer out details to get the project up-and-running, the report said.

Tehran has already provided Moscow with hundreds of drones it has used to hit military and civilian targets in Ukraine, US officials told WSJ.

Earlier, the US administration warned that Russia and Iran are developing a “full-fledged defense partnership.”

The White House says Moscow was training Iranian pilots to fly Russian jet fighters, with the intent of sending Tehran those jets by year’s end.

In December, the White House warned that Moscow and Tehran were considering whether to build a joint drone-production line in Russia.

The report quoting the officials from US, said, the talks have morphed into concrete plans with the visit in January 5 to Yelabuga where the two nations are planning to build a new factory that can produce at least 6,000 drones in the coming years.

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