Iran recently transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the intelligence, completing a delivery that US and Western officials had warned was in the works for almost a year.
It is not clear when exactly the missiles were delivered, but their transfer comes as Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and as Ukraine braces for large-scale Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure this winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told allies at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany on Friday that Ukraine urgently needed more air defense systems.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Iran had delivered the missiles.
National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett told CNN in a statement that “any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support” for the Kremlin in its invasion of Ukraine.
“We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports. We and our partners have made clear both at the G7 and at the NATO summits this summer that together we are prepared to deliver significant consequences,” Savett said.
The provision of ballistic missiles marks a significant escalation of Iran’s support for Russia. Iran has already provided Russia with hundreds of drones that Russian forces have used in their war against Ukraine, and Russia has been building a drone-manufacturing facility in country with Iran’s help, CNN has reported.
Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations denied the transfer had been carried out in statement to CNN.
Credit: cnn.com
