Iran Bought Russia’s Latest Verba Man-Portable Air Defense Systems In Secret Deal

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Iran made a secret $589 million deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS), the Financial Times reported on February 22.

Under the agreement, signed in Moscow in December, Iran should receive 500 man-portable “Verba” launch units and 2,500 “9M336” missiles from Russia over three years, the news outlet said, citing leaked Russian documents and several people familiar with the deal.

The deliveries of the MANPADS are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 all the way through 2029, according to the report.

FT said that 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).

Tehran formally requested the systems last July, according to a contract seen by the FT. In the same month, Israel attacked Iran, in what later became known as the 12-day war. The United States joined in, attacking three of the Islamic Republic’s main nuclear facilities.

The Verba, developed by KB Mashinostroyeniya, has an operational range of 6.5 kilometers, with the ability to engage targets flying at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers with a speed up to 500 meters per second, that’s about Mach 1,5.

The missile is equipped with a multispectral optical seeker which uses three sensors: ultraviolet, near infrared, and mid-infrared.

Cross-checking sensors against one another improves discrimination between relevant targets and decoys, and decreases the chance of disruption from countermeasures, including lasers that attempt to blind missiles. This also improves the missile’s performance against newer threats with low infrared signature, like drones and cruise missiles.

The Verba can be equipped with the 1PN97M Mowgli-2M thermal sight, which greatly improves the ability to detect and aim at targets at night and in poor weather conditions. It can be also used in conjunction with the 1L122 Harmonium man-portable radar, which has a detection range of up to 40 kilometers. It is unclear if Iran is getting any of these systems along with the MANPADS.

The system, which has been only exported to Armenia before, proved to be highly capable during the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

Just earlier this month, a representative of the High Precision Systems holding company — part of the state tech corporation Rostec — told TASS at the World Defense Show 2026 in Saudi Arabia that the Verba was used to shoot down thousands of drones over the special military operation zone.

The FT report came amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and direct threats from President Donald Trump to Iran over several issues, including recent deadly protests and the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Despite indirect talks between the two sides, all recent reports indicate that war is around the corner.

The Verba will significantly strengthen the lowest tier of Iran’s air defense network. However, the latest report suggests that the Islamic Republic is not getting any of the systems this year. Of course, considering the recent escalation by the U.S., it is possible that deliveries could begin earlier than what was agreed on.

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