The answer is manifold, but centers on Iran pursuing strengthened relations with a key strategic ally, Russia; helping Moscow in its effort to combat Western hegemony; and enhancing its own role as a major weapons exporter.  

“Iran’s immediate goal is to bolster a key ally’s military effort in Ukraine when it’s clear the Russian war effort is faltering and it’s having trouble resupplying its more advanced cruise missiles and drones,” Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Rane, told CNBC.

“But,” he added, “I think this speaks to a wider Iranian ambition to try to ensure that the war doesn’t go so badly for the Russian government that their ally is destabilized.”

Iran “doesn’t have a lot of friends let alone great powers that will offer it any kind of security guarantee,” Bohl said. “Russia’s security support to Iran is far from perfect, but it is certainly better than nothing.”

And as Iran expands its weapons production and exports, Russia’s war in Ukraine also serves as a place where Iranian weapons can be used at scale to further test and refine them, he said.

‍

Read the full CNBC article here.