U.S. accuses Iran of sending ballistic missiles to Russia

Washington Post-Sept10th2024

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Updated September 10, 2024 at 9:51 a.m. EDT|Published September 10, 2024 at 8:01 a.m. EDT

LONDON — Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, declaring that Washington intends sanctions for a move that pulls Tehran more deeply into the Russia-Ukraine conflict as Kyiv seeks U.S. permission to strike more deeply into Russian territory.

The potent weapons bolster Moscow’s armory at a pivotal moment in its grinding war on Ukraine, as Kyiv pushes into Russia but faces setbacks in its east. With Ukrainians clamoring for expanded U.S. weapons assistance, Blinken said that he would visit Kyiv for consultations with its leadership, a rare visit by a Cabinet-level official to the wartime capital.

“We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately, that taking this step would be a dangerous escalation,” Blinken said. “Russia has now received shipments of these missiles.”

He added that Russia is likely to use the shipments within weeks and that new sanctions on Tehran would be announced later Tuesday, including measures against Iran Air.

Iranian officials this week denied that they had sent weapons to Russia.

Russia has been on a global hunt to bolster its stockpiles, reasoning that if it can outlast Kyiv’s backers and grind the country into submission, it will eventually prevail. Iran has supplied Russia with attack drones but until recently held back from offering more powerful weaponry, in apparent deference to U.S. and European warnings that to do so would trigger a wave of painful sanctions.

The Iranian move further extends the realignment of global actors that was accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, bringing together U.S. antagonists Russia, China and Iran in an increasingly unified band that is seeking to push back on U.S. influence around the world. Though none of the countries were friendly to Washington before the war, their mutual mistrust of each other previously kept them from working together effectively

Blinken said that although Russia already possesses its own ballistic missiles that can strike within the 75-mile radius of the Iranian system, the new missiles will enable the Kremlin to reserve its own stocks for longer-range strikes and to use the Iranian missiles for closer targets.

Blinken did not say when the missiles had been shipped to Russia. Iran has a new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who has signaled a more moderate approach toward Washington and Europe. The weapons shipment to Moscow runs contrary to that effort, with European countries offering little tolerance for actions that tip the balance toward Russia’s side.

The top U.S. diplomat said that Iran was receiving Russian assistance on its nuclear program in return for sending missiles and that the security relationship is a “two-way street.”