The key facts
- Iran requested S-400 air defense systems from Russia via a personal letter from Mojtaba Khamenei to Putin — The Telegraph reports, citing a senior Iranian official
- The message was delivered in Moscow on November 5 by Secretary of Iran's Security Council Mohsen Rezaei
- Tehran has been trying to acquire these systems for several years; air defenses were seriously damaged by American and Israeli strikes
S-400 request via a personal letter
Iran has asked Russia to supply S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to restore its air defenses after strikes by the US and Israel. According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, cited by Life.ru,the request was contained in a personal letter from Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a senior Iranian official cited by the outlet, Tehran hopes Putin will approve the delivery of the systems, which the country has been trying to acquire for several years.
How the message was delivered
The message to the Russian leader was delivered on November 5 by Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei,who arrived in Moscow. According to Life.ru, the Kremlin described the topics of the meeting with the envoy as partnership and the situation in the Persian Gulf; the letter and the S-400 request were not publicly disclosed at the time — this information emerged in The Telegraph's report.
Context: preparations for a possible strike
Iranian authorities hope to strengthen air defenses, which were seriously damaged during American and Israeli attacks, with Russian systems. Amid fears of a possible new US strike, Iran has begun distributing iodine tablets to residents of areas within a two-to-three-kilometer radius of nuclear facilities. Particular concern, Life.ru notes, is caused by the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, which could become the target of a new American attack.
What remains unclear
The information about the letter and the S-400 request is based on The Telegraph's report citing an unnamed Iranian official; neither Moscow nor Tehran has publicly confirmed it. It is unknown how Putin responded to the request and whether any decision on deliveries has been made.
