Iran has brokered ongoing secret talks between Russia and Yemen's Houthi rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to the rebels, three Western and regional sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Seven sources said that Russia has yet to decide to transfer the Yakhont missiles – also known as P-800 Oniks - which experts said would allow the Houthis to more accurately strike commercial vessels in the Red Sea and increase the threat to the US and European warships defending them.
Two regional officials aware of the talks said that the Houthis and Russians met in Tehran at least twice this year and that the talks to provide dozens of the missiles, which have a range of about 300 km, were ongoing with further Tehran meetings expected in coming weeks.
Russia has previously supplied the Yakhont missile to Hezbollah.
One of the sources told Reuters the talks started under Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
"Russia is negotiating with the Houthis for the transfer of Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missiles," said a Western intelligence source. "The Iranians are brokering the talks but do not want to have their signature over it."
Neither Iran's UN mission nor the Russian Defense Ministry responded to requests for comment.
"We have no knowledge of what you have mentioned," said Mohamed Abdel-Salam, the official spokesman for Yemen's Houthis.
A senior US official declined to name the specific systems that could be transferred but confirmed that Russia has been discussing supplying missiles to the Houthis, calling the development "very worrisome."
The Iranian-backed Houthis have upped their attacks in the region since the start of the war in Gaza, having launched drones towards southern Israel and targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region.
In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition, made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis.
In mid-January, with support from other countries, the US and Britain targeted just under 30 Houthi locations with 150 different weapons. They have since carried out several rounds of strikes against Houthi targets.
The Houthis have been unfazed by the strikes, saying that the campaign against the "Zionist enemy" will continue and that the attacks against the American and British ships will not stop.
Tuesday’s report is the latest indication of the closer military ties between Russia and Iran.
In July of 2022, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US had intelligence indicating that Russia is looking to Iran for UAVs.
Later it was reported that Iran had begun training Russians to use its drones, though it was also noted that Russia is experiencing “numerous failures” and technical glitches with the drones it purchased from Iran.
A subsequent US intelligence finding said that Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
In August of last year, The Washington Post reported that Russia is preparing, with the help of Iran, to produce more than 6,000 attack drones by 2025.