Russia is allegedly providing covert assistance to Iran in the development of supersonic cruise missiles, the Financial Times reports.

According to the newspaper, Russian specialists were brought into a secret Iranian program aimed at creating a new class of weapons capable of threatening US aircraft carriers and other warships operating in the Middle East.

The project reportedly focused on helping Tehran develop a ramjet engine that would allow a cruise missile to maintain flight speeds several times faster than the speed of sound. Missile and military technology experts cited by the FT believe the technology could be intended for both anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.

Fabian Hinz, an analyst specializing in Iranian missile programs, described the reported cooperation as the transfer of strategically important Russian military technology that Iran had sought to obtain for decades.

The Financial Times said the program began in 2023 and continued until the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

The newspaper also noted that Iran has developed and tested a ramjet engine. However, there is no evidence that Tehran currently has a missile equipped with such technology in service.

In March, US media outlets also claimed that Russia was providing Iran with intelligence on the location of US troops. CNN separately reported that Moscow was advising Tehran on the use of drones in the war against the United States.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the intelligence-sharing allegations at the time, saying Russia was not providing Iran with intelligence information.