Miami Beach, FL, November 1, 2022 --  

Iran's transition from a minor importer of cheap Soviet weapons to a major arms exporter to Russia itself adds yet another reason its regime needs to fall.

As an onslaught of Iranian drones continues to lay waste to Ukraine’s power grid, even more dangerous weapons may be on the way.  Two weeks ago, Iranian officials announced plans to ship Russia ballistic missiles¹ from its arsenal of over 3000 short and medium range weapons.²

The emergence of Iran as a major arms supplier to Russia is yet another stunning turn of events of the war in Ukraine.  Iran first imported short range missiles like the infamous Scud from the Soviet Union in the 1980s during its war with Iraq.  It later reverse engineered and modified Soviet designs as part of its domestic arms program, extending their range to be able to reach its Israeli and Saudi enemies.  

Like Russia, Iran is subject to international sanctions that limit imports of Western technology for manufacturing.  But unlike Russia, Iran has over 40 years experience evading these limits.  Its scrappy arms industry manufactures whatever parts it can, buys others under the table from China, and designs around missing components as a last resort.  

Russia once did the same in Soviet times, but the decline of its manufacturing base after the Soviet collapse left its arms industry reliant on Western imports that have slowed to a trickle.  It will take years for Russia to lean to adapt and achieve what Iran already has.

The consequences of the new Russia-Iran alliance start with Ukrainians, who will have much greater difficulty shooting down supersonic ballistic missiles than slow-flying drones.  But even greater consequences come from the strategic partnership between two of world’s leading outlaw nations.

While Iranian oil exports are severely hampered by international sanctions, Russia’s oil exports still flow freely to countries outside Europe and North America.  Moscow can spend its oil revenues on Iranian arms, and Iran will spend some of the Russian cash on parts from China then use the profits to build up its arms industry even more.  Everybody wins — except the good guys.

Putting politics aside, the fact that Iran has gone from a minor client of the Soviet arms industry to a major supplier of the Russian war machine is an impressive accomplishment.  

But the fact that this transition was crossed in the midst of massive domestic protests against a despotic regime sours this achievement.  Women across Iran have been rising up for weeks, enraged by the murder of a young woman by the hated morality police.  More recently protests have spread to universities around the country, broadening the challenge to the mullahs.

But those hoping for a quick end to the regime shouldn't hold their breath -- the mullahs have defied flagging public support for over a decades, using electoral fraud and candidate disqualification to ensure Islamofascist victory.

But things weren’t always like this.  Before Islamofascists seized power in 1979, Iran was a close Western ally. And as recently as the 2009 election, there was hope that internal reform would return Iran to more liberal ideals and its Western roots.

Sadly, Iran's dynamic population is held captive by a government that represses its women and forces its men to aid its alliance with the most evil states of the world. The talent and grit of the Iranian people are being wasted by a regime that channels their abilities toward nefarious deeds. The list of the regime's enemies has grown from United States, Israel and  Saudi Arabia to include domestic liberals and now huge numbers of Iranian women.

And today you can add Ukraine to that list.  Whether you are a Ukrainian sitting in a dark apartment in Kiev, or an Iranian woman being beaten on the streets of Tehran, the fall of the hated Islamic Republic can’t come soon enough.

Related Web Columns:

Great Satan No More, June 3, 2014

Notes:

Reuters, Iran Agrees to Ship Missiles, More Drones to Russia, October 18, 2022

Jerusalem Post, Iran has 3,000 Ballistic Missiles, Many That Can Reach Israel - US General, March 15, 2022