Former Russian Defense Minister Shoigu Reportedly Arrives in Tehran

Russia’s former Defense Minister now the secretary of the Kremlin’s Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, has reportedly landed in Tehran on Monday to meet top Iranian officials as fears of major escalation mount over Iran’s threatened retaliatory strikes against Israel following the assassination of Hama’s political bureau chief in Tehran.

As reported by Russian news agency Interfax, Shoigu is set to hold talks with President Masoud Pezeshkian, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the general staff of the Iranian military.

The talks are expected to concern “bilateral cooperation and its strengthening, from security to trade and economic projects, as well as various aspects of global and regional security,” according to the Interfax report, citing comments from the Russian Security Council.

Shoigu had served as Russia’s defense minister from 2012 and oversaw the Russian military during its invasion of Ukraine. He was dismissed in May this year and moved to lead Russia’s Security Council.

On July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Hamas group in Palestine, was killed in Tehran alongside his bodyguard. While it is assumed that Jerusalem was to be behind the assassination, there is disagreement as to how it was achieved. Some believe it was a long-range missile, a projectile fired at close range or even a bomb hidden in his apartment. Israel has yet to provide an official comment on the incident.

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Iran has no doubt, on Monday, Tehran maintained that it has the “legal right” to “punish the Zionist regime” in response to Haniyeh’s assassination, which took place when Haniyeh visited Tehran for the new Iranian president’s inauguration, though it also stated that Tehran “does not seek to aggravate tensions in the region.”

Three American and Israeli officials told Axios that Iran’s expected retaliatory strike against Israel is expected to take place on Monday, August 5, and is likely to be on an even more extensive scale than the  April 13 attack and could involve participation by Iranian-backed Hezbollah from Lebanon and Houthi rebels from Yemen.

In response to the situation, Washington deployed an aircraft carrier strike group, a squadron of F-22 Raptor fighter jets, and additional warships to the Middle East.