U.S. says Iran is sending ballistic missiles to Russia in a ‘dramatic escalation’
Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war against Ukraine in a “dramatic escalation” that will let Moscow strike deeper inside Ukrainian territory, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.
As a result of the move, the U.S., Britain and other European powers plan to impose new sanctions on the Iranian state airline, Blinken and his British counterpart, David Lamy, said at a joint news conference in London.
“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians,” Blinken told reporters.
Although Russia has its own substantial arsenal, Blinken said, “the supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, while dedicating the new missiles it’s receiving from Iran for closer-range targets.”
“We’ve warned Iran publicly, we’ve warned Iran privately, that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation,” Blinken said. “Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles,” he said.
Iran has already provided armed drones to Russia, helped build a drone factory in Russia to produce the aircraft and trained Russians how to operate them, Blinken said.
Confirmation from Washington that Iran is now arming Russia with sophisticated short-range ballistic missiles will likely increase pressure on the Biden administration to ease restrictions on how Ukraine can use weapons to strike at targets inside Russia. Kyiv has appealed for more flexibility to attack Russian missile launchers deeper inside Russia.
The U.S. has shared intelligence about the missile shipments with partners in recent days and the allies are planning to inflict “significant economic consequences for Tehran’s actions,” Blinken said, including additional sanctions on Iran Air, the state airline.
Iran has denied it is providing missiles to Russia and has called for countries to halt any weapons shipments to either side in the conflict. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“The spread of false news about the transfer of Iranian weapons to certain countries is aimed at concealing the extensive and illegal Western military support for the genocide in Gaza,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Naser Kanaani was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency ISNA.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, “Not every time information of this kind corresponds to reality. … We are developing dialogue with Iran in the most sensitive areas and will continue to do so.”
British Foreign Secretary Lamy said, “We’re seeing a disturbing pattern of greater Iranian support for the Kremlin’s illegal war, and we discussed today our shared commitment to holding Tehran to account for their undermining of global stability.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, said Tehran has calculated that it has more to gain than to lose by transferring the weapons to Russia.
“The big question is now: What did Tehran get in return? Nuclear cooperation, cash, space program assistance?” he said.
