Iran agreed a secret $589 ​million arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands ‌of advanced shoulder-fired missiles, the Financial Times reported on ​Sunday (February 22, 2026).

The agreement, signed in Moscow ⁠in December, commits Russia to deliver 500 man-portable “Verba” launch units and 2,500 “9M336” missiles over three years, the ‌FT said, citing leaked Russian documents seen by the FT and several people ‌familiar with the deal.

Reuters could not immediately ‌verify ⁠the report.

Under the deal the deliveries ⁠are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 through 2029, the FT said.

The deal was negotiated between Russian ​state arms exporter Rosoboronexport ‌and the Moscow representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), the FT said.

Tehran formally requested the systems last ‌July, according to a contract seen by the ​FT. In June last year, U.S. forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear ⁠sites as the country joined Israel’s military campaign against Iran.

President Donald Trump said Iran’s key nuclear ‌facilities were destroyed in the attack. However, according to a preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment at the time, the U.S. airstrikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and only set it back by a few months.

Iranian officials have repeatedly ‌said Tehran had recovered from the damage incurred during ​the war and that its capabilities are better than ever.

Russia has a strategic ⁠partnership treaty with Iran, although it does not include ⁠a mutual defence clause. Earlier in February, a Russian naval corvette conducted manoeuvres ‌with the Iranian navy in the Gulf of Oman this week, according to Russia’s Defence ​Ministry.

“A second flight carrying Iranians deported from the United States has left America,” Iranian officials said, as Washington reportedly planned to send hundreds of prisoners back to the Islamic Republic.

The deportations come as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites during Tehran’s 12-day war with Israel in June.

Iran seizes tanker in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. official says; tensions remain high in region

Activists abroad also have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, whose theocracy has been cracking down on intellectuals and executing prisoners at a rate unseen in decades.

A report published on Monday (December 8, 2025) by the Mizan news agency, the official mouthpiece of the Iran’s judiciary, quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry official Mojtaba Shasti Karimi acknowledging the deportation of 55 Iranians.

Iran says no access to bombed nuclear sites without IAEA deal

“These individuals announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals particularly Iranians by the United States,” Mr. Karimi reportedly said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said on Sunday (December 7, 2025) there were plans for 55 Iranians to return to the Islamic Republic. Based on the U.S. claims, “the Iranians were repatriated because of legal reasons and breach of immigration regulations,” Mr. Baghaei said.

The U.S. government did not immediately acknowledge the deportation flight and it wasn’t clear whether the plane had arrived yet in Tehran. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press onMonday (December 8, 2025).

The deportations represent a collision of a top priority of President Donald Trump — targeting illegal immigration — against a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In September, Iranian officials acknowledged as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under the Trump administration policy. That month, the first such flight arrived in Tehran.

In the lead up to and after the 1979 revolution, a large number of Iranians fled to the U.S. In the decades since, the U.S. had been sensitive in allowing those fleeing from Iran over religious, sexual or political persecution to seek residency.

Iran has maintained only those facing criminal charges face prosecution, while others can travel freely. However, Tehran has detained Westerns and others with ties abroad in the past to be exchanged in prisoner swaps.

Iran has criticised Washington for hosting dissidents and others in the past. The U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Iran of hiring hitmen to target dissidents as well in America.