Russia has begun supplying the Islamic Republic with advanced air defense systems and radars, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. Iranian officials, including a member of the Revolutionary Guards, quoted in the report said that Iran requested missile defense systems from Russia in preparation for a possible war with Israel. “Russia has financial problems and although it maintains economic and cultural ties with Israel, Moscow cannot afford to reject Iran’s request for help because it relies heavily on Iranian drones in its war on Ukraine,” an official in a consultancy on security and intelligence matters said. Unlike most nations that condemned Iran’s attack on Israel in April, Russia justified the attack. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)