Iran’s Tor-M1 aerial defense codes were apparently compromised in the context of a secret deal between Russia and Israel.
According to hacked Stratfor documents obtained by WikiLeaks, Israel provided Russia with “data link codes” for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) the Jewish state had sold to Georgia – in exchange for codes to the Tor-M1 missile defense systems Moscow had shipped to Iran.
The documents, which were analyzed by the Israel-based Ynet, are reportedly based on a February 2009 conversation a Stratfor employee had with a “Mexican source/friend” who claimed the two countries clinched the deal several years prior.
Unsurprisingly, Georgia attempted to purchase new drones from a private defense contractor to replace the compromised UAVs in July 2008, a little more than month before its disastrous five-day war with Russia over the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
According to RIA Novosti, George later tried to sell the compromised drones to neighboring Azerbaijan, but it remains unclear if the deal ever went through.
Interestingly enough, the unnamed Mexican source also went on to discuss the advanced S-300 aerial defense systems which have long been coveted by Tehran to protect its nuclear and military sites.
Apparently, Israel and Turkey collaborated in cracking the system before relations between the two countries deteriorated, as Russia had sold a number of the missiles to Greece, Turkey’s long-time rival.
