Iran Used Russian Cartoon Production as Cover for Weapons Trade and Stolen Ukrainian Grain

Iranian intelligence is reportedly using Russian children’s animation studios as a front for arms trading and the smuggling of stolen Ukrainian grain.

This is according to an investigation by the Systema project, based on leaked FSB documents and reports from U.S. authorities.

At the center of the scheme is Sohrab Ghayrat, head of Sky Frame Studio. The company has worked on popular animated series such as Jingliks, Barboskins, and Dolphin Boy, which are available on major streaming platforms like Netflix and Apple TV.

Investigators say that, alongside his official business, Ghayrat and his brother were involved in buying Russian weapons for Yemen’s Houthi rebels and arranging shipments of grain from occupied Crimea to countries in the Middle East.

The connection to Iranian intelligence was allegedly maintained by Arash Doroudi, a former head of Sky Frame Studio. His company, Safir Animation, is located across from the scientific and industrial section of the Iranian embassy – an office Doroudi himself listed as his workplace in 2020.

The Systema project reports that Doroudi has been cooperating with the Iranian embassy since at least the early 2010s and has repeatedly been part of official delegations.

Back in the 2000s, he attempted to illegally export military gyroscopes from Russia.

More recently, Doroudi attended air shows, where he gathered information on the latest military technologies while posing as a civilian entrepreneur.

In April 2025, the U.S. Treasury placed him under sanctions. The investigation emphasizes that Western streaming services may have inadvertently contributed to financing Iranian proxy groups.

By purchasing rights to Sky Frame Studio’s animated content, companies transferred funds to entities directly controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In January 2025, hackers released an internal document from the FSB’s counterintelligence department, revealing a list of Iranian intelligence operatives and officials working under diplomatic cover at the embassy in Moscow.

Arash Doroudi was among those listed. Russian security services identified him as an adviser at the Center for Progress and Development (CPD) under the Iranian presidential administration.

According to the FSB document, the center is tasked with identifying and procuring advanced technologies abroad for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence – the country’s main intelligence service.

In Russia, Doroudi acted as the ‘end buyer’ of various dual-use goods on behalf of the CPD. In effect, the animation business served as an ideal cover for someone engaged in technology espionage and sanctions evasion.

Militarnyi previously reported that Russia has been providing Iran with intelligence on the deployment and movement of U.S. troops in the Middle East.