Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei hands Putin a letter from Tehran

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and handed him a letter from Iran's supreme leader, according to the Israeli Telegram news channel Abu Ali Express. The channel said Rezaei had flown into the Russian capital that day before the meeting took place.

The Israeli broadcaster N12, citing its correspondent Asaf Rosenzweig, gave more detail on what the letter contained. N12 reported that the message, which it attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, was handed over at the Kremlin and was mostly about Iran's demand to be supplied with an air defense system. The excerpt of the N12 report available to us refers to "this" system without naming it.

Who Mohsen Rezaei is and what his council does

The Supreme National Security Council is the body in Iran's system of government that coordinates defence and national security policy. It brings together senior political, military and intelligence officials, and its decisions on major security questions are subject to the approval of the supreme leader. The council's secretary acts as a senior envoy on sensitive security files, which is why a visit by the person in that post to a foreign head of state is typically read as carrying the supreme leader's authority rather than that of the government alone.

Rezaei is a veteran figure in the Islamic Republic's security establishment. Both reports identify him as the current secretary of the council, and both describe him as the person who carried the supreme leader's message to Putin personally.

A letter from the supreme leader

In Iran, the supreme leader holds final say over foreign policy, the armed forces and national security. A written message from the supreme leader delivered by hand to a foreign president is a formal channel, used to signal that a request or position comes from the top of the state.

Abu Ali Express described the letter as coming from Iran's supreme leader without naming him. N12 named the author as Mojtaba Khamenei. Neither report quoted from the letter, and neither said whether Putin replied or how the Kremlin responded.

Why air defense matters to this story

Only N12 reported the subject of the letter. According to its report, the central issue was Iran's wish to obtain a particular air defense system from Russia. The available text does not say which system was meant, whether Russia had previously agreed or refused to supply it, or what quantities or timelines were under discussion.

For readers in Israel and abroad, the question of what air defenses Iran can field bears directly on the regional military balance, since such systems determine how well a country can protect its airspace and strategic sites against aerial attack. Russia is one of the few countries with the capacity to supply advanced air defense equipment to Iran, which helps explain why a request of this kind would be raised at the level of the supreme leader and the Russian president.

Where the reports differ

The two reports were published within seconds of each other on the same day, but they place the meeting on different days. Abu Ali Express said Rezaei arrived in Moscow and met Putin that same day. N12 said the letter had been delivered the previous day. We have not been able to establish which account of the timing is correct.

The reports also differ in scope. Abu Ali Express confined itself to the arrival, the meeting and the handover of the letter. N12 added the location, the Kremlin, the name of the supreme leader who wrote the letter, and its main subject.

What the reports do not say

• Which air defense system Iran is said to be asking for. The N12 excerpt refers to it only as "this" system.
• How Putin or the Kremlin responded to the letter, if at all, and whether any decision was taken.
• Whether Iranian or Russian officials have publicly confirmed the meeting or described its content.
• On which day the meeting actually took place, given the conflict between the two reports.
• The source of N12's information about the letter's contents, which is not given in the material.