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Iran has delivered a fairly large shipment of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, according to Western media reports on September 6.
An unnamed United States official told the Wall Street Journal that the ballistic missiles “have finally been delivered” to Russia.
The shipment involves a couple of hundred ballistic missiles, Western officials told the newspaper, without providing any details on the type of missiles. Iran has a variety of such missiles, with ranges stretching up to more than 800 kilometers. Previous reports alleged that Russia was interested in the Fath 360 missile, which has a range of up to 120 kilometers and is armed with a 150 kg warhead.
“This is not the end,” a senior European official said, according to the newspaper, noting that Iran is expected to “keep weapons flowing into Russia”
“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,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett commenting on the report. “Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Bloomberg also reported on the alleged Iranian delivery. According to the news outlet, the U.S. informed its allies of the ballistic missile shipment. Washington and the European Union are expected to unveil a new batch of sanctions on Iran for this.
The latest reports by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg mirror many Western media reports from the last two years. In all cases, no evidence confirming that Iran has delivered ballistic missiles to Russia was presented. Officials from West even denied similar reports in the past.
Russia already produces the highly-capable Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile, and has ramped up production and use of the system in recent years.
The reports about an Iranian ballistic missile shipment to Russia came as Ukraine is pressuring its backers to be allowed to strike deeper into Russian territory using Western-made weapons, including the American-made MGM-140 ATACMS ballistic missiles. Thus, these reports may be meant to justify such a decision by Washington and its allies.
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