The American-Iranian war could gain another dangerous layer: the Russian one. According to The Economist on May 7, 2026, the publication obtained a confidential document from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, which suggests that Moscow offered Tehran thousands of fiber-optic drones and operator training for strikes against American forces in the Persian Gulf.
This is not just about delivering another batch of drones. The document described a military aid project to Iran, designed for a situation where the US might move to a ground operation against the Islamic Republic. For Israel, this story is important not only as an episode of the American-Iranian confrontation but also as a signal: Russia, Iran, and their military technologies are increasingly intertwined into a single system of pressure on the West, the Middle East, and Ukraine.
What exactly, according to The Economist, did Russia offer Iran
According to The Economist’s publication, the Russian plan provided for the transfer of 5,000 short-range drones to Iran. Separately, more long-range systems with satellite guidance were mentioned, but their quantity was not specified in the project.
The main feature of these drones is fiber-optic control. Such devices are connected to the operator not by a radio channel, but by a physical fiber-optic cable. This sharply reduces the effectiveness of electronic warfare means because conventional signal jamming almost does not work here.
In other words, it was about drones that are harder to suppress, intercept, and disorient with standard electronic warfare means. That is why such drones are especially dangerous against forces operating in confined spaces: landing ships, port infrastructure, temporary bases, columns of equipment, and forward units.
According to the publication, Putin personally offered Iran not only weapons but also training on how to use these systems against American soldiers. This already translates the story from the plane of ordinary arms export to the zone of direct military assistance to anti-American operations.
Why this is important for Israel
For the Israeli audience, there is an obvious connection here. Iran remains Israel’s main strategic adversary, and Russia increasingly acts not as a neutral player but as a country ready to strengthen those who fight against Western allies and US regional partners.
If Tehran receives technologies, experience, and training from Moscow, these solutions do not disappear after one conflict. They can be transferred to proxy structures, adapted to new theaters of war, and appear in the hands of groups that act against Israel or near its borders.
This makes the topic of fiber-optic drones not a narrow technical detail, but an element of the big picture of security in the Middle East.
Secret GRU project: islands, Kharg terminal, and attacks on landing ships
The Economist’s material states that the 10-page GRU project was prepared in the first weeks of the war when the scenario of an American ground invasion of Iran was considered. The document, according to the publication, included diagrams and a map of islands off the Iranian coast.
A special place was occupied by Kharg Island — Iran’s key oil terminal. According to the document, American forces might attempt to capture it, and the Russian side offered scenarios of counteraction.
One of the diagrams showed how operators trained by Russia could launch swarms of five to six drones from hidden positions. The targets of such attacks were named as American landing ships. This does not look like improvisation: the scheme implies operator training, understanding of the coastline, selection of launch points, and use of vulnerabilities during landing.
In the middle of this story, it is important to see not only military equipment but also political meaning. NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers such plots precisely through the prism of the Iran-Russia-regional security link, because for Israel such plans mean an increase in threat not somewhere far away, but in a zone that directly affects the balance of power around the country.
Who they wanted to make drone operators
The block on recruiting operators is particularly indicative. According to The Economist, the GRU proposed looking for people among approximately 10,000 Iranian students studying at Russian universities.
The document also mentioned Tajiks and Syrian Alawites loyal to the overthrown regime of Bashar al-Assad. Such logic is understandable: Russia could use people already in its orbit, train them on its territory, and then transfer not only equipment but also a ready human resource to Iran.
This resembles not a classic state army, but a hybrid war infrastructure. Students, foreign loyalists, technical specialists, military instructors, closed training programs — all this forms a system where the line between ally, mercenary, and proxy operator becomes blurred.
New technological threat: why fiber-optic drones change the rules of the game
Ordinary FPV drones depend on radio communication. They can be jammed, intercepted, knocked off course, deprived of image or control. That is why electronic warfare has become one of the key elements of modern warfare.
A fiber-optic drone works differently. It drags a thin cable behind it, through which control and signal transmission occur. This limits range and maneuverability but provides a significant advantage: such a device is much harder to suppress with electronic means.
For close-range attacks, this can be critically dangerous. Especially if drones are launched in groups, from pre-prepared positions, at targets that are difficult to quickly move: ships, warehouses, equipment on the shore, command points, or infrastructure objects.
Ukrainian experience and Middle Eastern risk
Russia is actively studying drone warfare on the front against Ukraine. Every technological technique worked out on the Ukrainian front can then go further — to Iran, to allied regimes, to military proxies, or to the gray zones of the global arms market.
For Israel, this is an especially unpleasant scenario. Technologies that are used against Ukraine today may appear tomorrow in the hands of those who see Israel as a target. Iran has already proven that it can scale drone programs, transfer technologies to allies, and build an entire military doctrine around drones.
Therefore, The Economist’s report looks alarming not only because of a possible attack on American forces. It shows that Moscow is ready to help Iran precisely where it can cause maximum damage to the US and its partners.
What this says about Putin’s strategy
Putin’s Russia is increasingly less hiding that its interest is not stability, but the expansion of chaos. Supporting Iran at the moment of war with the US, if the described document indeed reflects Moscow’s real proposals, shows a willingness to use the Middle East as another front of pressure on the West.
This coincides with the general logic of Russian policy: in Ukraine — to destroy cities and infrastructure, in Europe — to destabilize security and politics, in the Middle East — to strengthen those who oppose the US, Israel, and the Western order.
Iran in this scheme is not an accidental partner. It has long been an enemy of Israel and Ukraine: for Israel — through the nuclear threat, missiles, and proxy groups; for Ukraine — through drones that Russia uses in strikes on civilian infrastructure. Now, according to The Economist, it may also be about the movement of technologies in the opposite direction: Russia offers Iran new means for war against Americans.
The final conclusion here is harsh but logical. If such plans existed on paper, then the military rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran has reached a level where each new technology can quickly become common. And for Israel, this means the need to view the Russian-Iranian link not as a diplomatic background, but as a direct security factor.
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