Tel Aviv: Israel has analysed the threat posed by the new Iranian cruise missile and has decided to take “some complementary” steps to make the country’s multi-layered missile defence system more capable. Israel expects that Russia will help Iran to advance its ballistic missiles program.

Israeli sources said that the information achieved by Israel about that cooperation has been shared with the US in recent weeks together with intel showing that Iran may transfer to Syria some of its air defence systems on the request of Moscow that needs all its air defence arsenal for the war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, CIA director William Burns told CBS News that Russia is proposing to help Iran in its missile program.

“What we also see are signs that…Russia is proposing to help the Iranians on their missile program and also at least considering the possibility of providing fighter aircraft to Iran as well,” he said.

Dany Yatom, former head of the Mossad told Raksha Anirveda that the Russia – Iran military cooperation should worry Israel very much.

“The Iranians have very impressive technological capabilities and now Russia is expected to add to the existing ones. Israel should assume that technological knowledge is not only going from Iran to Russia in the shape of armed drones but at the other direction also , and this will increase the Iranian capability to hit targets in Israel.”

In an interview with Iran’s state television on Friday last week, a top Iranian general revealed a new cruise missile with a 1,650 km (1,025 miles) range that would be able to reach Israel. He also restated Tehran’s aim to kill former US president Donald Trump.

Iran international website, operated from London by the Iranian opposition also quoted the threat to kill Trump.

After reporting about the new long range cruise missile the website reported about the threat.

“Separately, Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace force, also spoke of Iran’s often repeated threat to avenge the US killing of Qassem Soleimani, Tehran’s top military and intelligence operator in the Middle East, saying “We are looking to kill (former US President Donald) Trump.”

According to a very senior Israeli expert, who talked on condition of anonymity said that in spite of the fact that the new missile is powered by an engine that uses large amounts of fuel it can reach Israel.

“The missile weight is 30 % of this of a Tomahawk and probably has no homing sensor and is directed to the selected target by a GPS systems. I assume that the missile will be equipped in the future with some kind of a homing sensor,” he remarked.

In recent years based on intelligence about the Iranian effort to develop a long range cruise missiles, Israel has added tethered balloons carrying very advanced long range radar to its other early warning systems. The new cruise missile has folding winglets that are opened after the missile leaves the canister and that according to Israeli defence sources enables its launch from platforms like cargo ships .

Other steps that have been taken are highly classified and according to sources are being upgraded as the Iranian cruise missile threat is enhanced.

Israeli sources said that the defence cooperation between Iran and Russia can in some  aspects help the Iranian long range ballistic missile program that is conducted in parallel to Tehran’s nuclear one that recently reached 84 % reached Uranium. Adding further, Israeli sources say that the defence cooperation between Moscow and Tehran can also help the Iranian military nuclear program.

According to Israel Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Iran believes that because of its closer ties to Russia, it will have a better position in the new global order that is evolving, with the likelihood that Moscow may reward Iran with conventional weapons, cooperation in the Syrian space, and nuclear elements. This the researchers say, puts Israel in a new and very worrying situation. The opinion is that Russia’s position of it having no interest in a nuclear Iran has not changed, the researchers added.

“The continuation of the engagement between Iran and the Russian nuclear infrastructure could lead to leaks to the military nuclear program due to weak oversight by the Russian authorities on the limits of Iranian activity. Inter alia, aid could be given for renewal of the operation of the Arak reactor, which was halted in the framework of the nuclear deal. It is also possible that Iran will seek cooperation in the field of nuclear-powered submarines – a possibility raised by Iran in recent years, albeit in general terms, as a way of enriching uranium to a military level.”