According to a Financial Times investigation, Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles under a program codenamed C430L, which began in 2023 and has continued into the ongoing US-Iran war. ^[1] Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and senior analyst at Conflict Armament Research, said the transfer is a highly strategically sensitive military technology that Iran has wanted for decades and would require political clearance from the very top of the Russian government. ^[2] Jim Lamson, a former Iran-focused military analyst with the CIA now at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the missile system would give Iran a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels. ^[3] Iran has constructed and flight-tested the ramjet propulsion system, however, there is no evidence that a Russian-assisted supersonic cruise missile have been deployed yet. ^[4] The program, codenamed C430L, utilizes some of Russia's most seasoned missile experts to assist Iran in creating a new category of weapon. ^[5]