Exclusive: Russian missile experts flew to Iran amid clashes with Israel

Several senior Russian missile specialists have visited Iran over the past year as the Islamic Republic has deepened its defence cooperation with Moscow, a Reuters review of travel records and employment data indicates.

The seven weapons experts were booked to travel from Moscow to Tehran aboard two flights on April 24 and September 17 last year, according to documents detailing the two group bookings as well as the passenger manifest for the second flight.

The booking records include the men’s passport numbers, with six of the seven having the prefix “20”. That denotes a passport used for official state business, issued to government officials on foreign work trips and military personnel stationed abroad, according to an edict published by the Russian government and a document on the Russian foreign ministry’s website.

The seven Russians identified by Reuters all have senior military backgrounds, with two ranked colonel and two lieutenant-colonel, according to a review of Russian databases containing information about citizens’ jobs or places of work, including tax, phone and vehicle records.

The flight booking information for the seven travellers was shown to Reuters by Hooshyaran-e Vatan, a group of activist hackers opposed to the Iranian government. The hackers said the seven were travelling with VIP status.

Read more: Reuters