Russia, Iran planning new factory to produce Iranian-designed drones — report

An undated photograph released by Ukraine shows the wreckage of what Kyiv has described as an Iranian Shahed drone downed near Kupiansk, Ukraine. (Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Directorate via AP)
Russia and Iran are advancing plans to build a factory that could manufacture up to 6,000 Iranian-designed drones to use in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the US daily, which describes the development as a further sign of the tightening ties between Tehran and Moscow, senior Iranian officials — including a brigadier general from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — visited the planned site in Russia last month and held talks there in a bid to finalize the agreement.
The report, which cited “officials from a country aligned with the US,” says Iran and Russia want to develop a faster drone to challenge Ukraine’s air defense systems.