US: opportunity for Iran to supply Russia with rockets, alarming

Russian supply of Iranian ballistic missiles would cause strong escalation of the war in Ukraine, the United States said Friday, following reports that Iran and Russia have deepened co-operation for the transfer of such weapons.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet said the United States is alarmed by these reports.

Whatever transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would constitute dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's attack on Ukraine”, Savet said.

Reuters reported in August that Russia is hosting a shipment of hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles, Faith-360.

The Wall Street Journal reported on September 6th that short-range missiles have been sent to Russia from Iran.

The visit to Tehran on 6 August by Russia's Security Consultation Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who has previously been Russia's defence minister, has sparked rumours that Moscow is seeking to take missiles from Iran.

Since the first months of the war in Ukraine, Russia has allegedly used Shahed and Mojier-6 drones produced by Iran, many of whom were found after they collapsed in Ukrainian towns and battlefields.

Iran had initially denied that it was arming Russia before surrendering and acknowledging that it had supplied a limited number of drones” in Moscow before the war.

With all the great evidence, Tehran continues to deny that its fears are being used by Russia against Ukraine. This has not stopped the United States and the European Union from imposing sanctions on Iran for Moscow's support. / REL