Iran's security chief hand-delivers Khamenei message to Putin in Moscow

Iran's top security official made the trip to Moscow on Thursday. Mohsen Rezaei, who runs Iran's National Security Council, met Russian President Vladimir Putin face to face, carrying a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. The Kremlin has stayed quiet on what the message actually said, and no readout of the contents has surfaced.

The timing is hard to ignore. Earlier, Ukrainian private intelligence firm Dallas Analytics handed documents to The Guardian that reportedly lay out a Russian plan to supply Iran with 90 launchers for advanced guided missiles, according to the outlet. That report puts Moscow's military ties with Tehran squarely in the frame as Rezaei shakes hands in the Kremlin.

The visit also lands in a heated stretch of US-Iran exchanges. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Washington will keep squeezing anyone backing the Iranian regime, framing it under what he called Operation Economic Outcast. The Treasury has already sanctioned individuals accused of aiding Tehran, including India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma and his spouse.

Iranian officials have been swinging back hard on social media. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked Vice President JD Vance's explanation for the Republican midterm losses, and National Security Commission head Ebrahim Azizi called President Trump the most unsuccessful president in US history. Trump himself said Wednesday it was largely true that the war in Iran cost Republicans the midterms, blaming gas prices but insisting he'd do it again.

What comes next hinges on whether Moscow or Tehran offers any detail on the Khamenei message, and on how the missile-launcher documents are received. For now, the only confirmed piece is the meeting itself, with the substance kept behind closed doors.