The shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles Iran purchased from Russia (likely at the end of 2025 since this story is from last month) are most effective for low flying aircraft, such as helicopters and the V-22 Osprey. You know, the types of aircraft used to land foreign (i.e. US) troops on your territory. It looks like Iran knew the Epstein Coalition's playbook in advance. That crowd could be in for a really rude awakening if Trumpstein goes ahead with the hair-brained schemed to invade Iran . . . SC

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Russia to supply Iran with shoulder-fired air defense system

BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO | February 26, 2026 |

A Russian Verba anti-aircraft missile system

Iran is looking to Russia to bolster its depleted air defenses after Iran’s June 2025 war with Israel and as it faces the largest US military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the two regimes had struck a €495 million deal for Russia to supply “Verba” shoulder-mounted air defense systems to Iran. However, these defenses would be unlikely to significantly impact a possible US operation against the Islamic Republic.

Tehran formally requested the Verba in July after its 12-day war with Israel, and the two sides signed the contract in December, FT reported. During that war and in a pair of earlier strikes in 2024, Israeli forces destroyed or damaged many of Iran’s air defense systems, including its Russian-supplied S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile batteries.

The 9K333 Verba, whose NATO reporting name is SA-29 Gizmo, is Russia’s most advanced man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) in mass production. It can reportedly hit aircraft up to 6 kilometers away at altitudes of nearly 15,000 feet using the missile’s multi-spectral (ultraviolet, near-infrared, and mid-infrared) seeker . . .

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