Moscow and Tehran Talk S-400 Handoff After Rezaei Meets Putin

Russia and Iran are working through a possible supply of the S-400 air defense system to Tehran, The Telegraph reported, citing an Iranian official. The Iranian side is said to be optimistic that the long-awaited delivery could finally be moving. The talks took shape around a Moscow meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mohsen Rezaei, the security chief to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Missiles weren't the only item on the table. Putin and Rezaei also discussed building a gas pipeline between Russia and Iran, according to the report. Air defense and energy in the same conversation points to a Moscow-Tehran relationship widening beyond weapons.

The timing is pointed. The report surfaced after US President Donald Trump said he doubts Moscow is handing Tehran military assistance. If the S-400 talks are real, that assessment gets a lot harder to hold.

Iran has been chasing the S-400 for a long time, making any confirmed delivery a notable shift in its air defense posture. The system is described in the report as advanced, and Tehran has waited years for it.

The region stayed loud the same day. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 reconnaissance drone over Qeshm Island in southern Iran, Fars News Agency reported. The IRGC called it the 16th MQ-1 downed by Iranian forces and said it keeps tracking US aerial movements and flight patterns.

On the diplomatic side, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said she's ready to team up with any Republicans who are listening to the American people and want to end the war with Iran. She wrote on X: 'End the war. Lower costs.' Democrats swept Tuesday's midterms, taking majorities in both the Senate and the House. Separately, Iran's Supreme National Security Council deputy secretary Ali Bagheri said Tehran will no longer be satisfied with Washington's 'paper commitments,' claiming the US disrupted peace talks this year by breaking promises.