US accuses Iran of sending Russia short-range ballistic missiles to use in Ukraine
Blinken says sanctions on flag carrier Iran Air will follow; Germany, France, Britain announce measures targeting airline
LONDON — The United States formally accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine and said it will take measures to punish those involved.
Blinken, speaking at a news conference in London ahead of a visit to Kyiv alongside Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, said Washington had privately warned Iran that providing ballistic missiles to Russia would “constitute a dramatic escalation” and said new sanctions would be imposed later on Tuesday.
He said that dozens of Russian military personnel have trained in Iran using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 75 miles (120 kilometers).
“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians,” Blinken said. “The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line.”
“This development and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threatens European security and demonstrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence reaches far beyond the Middle East.”
Russia was also sharing technology with Iran, including on nuclear issues, he added.
Additional US sanctions on Iran will include the airline Iran Air, and other countries are also expected to announce new sanctions, Blinken said.
Germany, France, and Britain condemned what they said was Iran’s export of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war and declared new sanctions targeting air transport.
“This act is an escalation by both Iran and Russia, and is a direct threat to European security,” said a joint statement from the three countries shared by the German Foreign Ministry.
“We will be taking immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran,” the statement said, adding that the allied trio would also “work towards imposing sanctions on Iran Air.”
The three countries called on Iran to immediately halt all support for Russia in its war with Ukraine.
Blinken and Lammy are to make a joint visit to Ukraine on Wednesday. The trip comes as the Kremlin tries to repel Ukraine’s surprise offensive that has claimed hundreds of miles of territory in Russia’s Kursk region.
“We are the closest of allies, so I’m delighted that we will travel together, demonstrating our commitment to Ukraine,” Lammy said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also ramped up pressure on the US and other allies to allow his country to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia and hit sites from which Moscow launches aerial attacks.
Lammy called the Iranian missile transfers to Russia “a troubling pattern that we’re seeing. It is definitely a significant escalation.”
Iran has denied providing Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine, while the Kremlin didn’t explicitly reject the accusation.
“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict — which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations — to be inhumane,” according to a recent statement from Iran’s mission to the United Nations. “Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict.”
Word of the alleged transfers began to emerge over the weekend with reports that US intelligence indicated they were underway, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US and its allies have been warning Iran for months not to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.
“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 and lead to the killing of more Ukrainian civilians,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement Saturday.
