The United States said on Friday that Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would signal a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war, following reports that the two countries have deepened ties with such weapons transfers in recent weeks.
Reuters reported in August that Russia expected a delivery of hundreds of Fatah-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Iran soon, and that dozens of Russian military personnel were being trained in Iran on satellite-guided weapons for use in the Ukraine war.
Iran has handed over short-range missiles to Russia, the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed US official as saying on Friday.
“We have been warning about the growing security partnership between Russia and Iran since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine, and are concerned by these reports,” White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.”
Another US official told Reuters they were closely monitoring possible Iranian-Russian missile transfers.
The potential move comes after the US and other partners, including Europe, warned that such a move by Iran could have serious consequences. Western countries have been concerned about growing ties between Iran and Russia in recent months.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday that there was no change in Tehran’s position on the Ukraine conflict.
It says, “Iran considers it inhumane to provide military support to parties involved in the conflict – which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and deviation from ceasefire negotiations.”
“Thus, Iran not only refrains from engaging in such actions itself, but also calls on other States to stop supplying arms to the parties involved in the conflict,” the mission said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
