After kamikaze drones harassing Ukrainian forces, will Russia be able to rely on Iranian ballistic missiles? According to senior US and allied officials cited by The washington post: Tehran would decide to step up its military aid by supplying more attack drones and, above all, some ballistic missiles.
The American daily, citing intelligence, claims that Iran’s arms industry is preparing a batch of Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles, two short-range ballistic missiles that can hit targets 300 and 700 kilometers away, respectively. If this delivery is effective, it will be the first since the beginning of the war, as the US has currently banned itself from supplying ballistic missiles to Ukraine.
In September, Russia warned against supplying Ukraine with American ballistic missiles with a range of 300 km. According to the Turkish “Anadolu” news agency, the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, stated that “Such a scenario would mean that the US would enter into a direct military confrontation with Russia“. He clarified that if Kiev acquires such weapons, Russia’s major cities, industrial infrastructure and the transport sector will be directly threatened.
Killer Drones:
The drone was trusted by US officials washington post: Iran planned to increase shipments of the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-136, which had already been delivered to Russia, and which struck Kiev again on Monday, killing eight people.
Since February 24, the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has depleted a large stockpile of its precision munitions and is struggling to renew its stockpile, particularly due to difficulty in obtaining semiconductors. As for drones, Moscow has equipment mainly specialized in surveillance and reconnaissance, but does not yet have operational heavy attack drones, the development of which has accelerated in recent years.
Despite multiple denials from Tehran, these drones have been seen repeatedly in Ukraine, repainted and rebranded, taking part in recent large-scale strikes against the country’s energy infrastructure. Some were shot by the Ukrainians and the debris was recovered. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian denied the allegations and said his country did it.does not supply and will not supply any weapons intended for use in the Ukrainian war“, it is said in the press release of his ministry. During a separate meeting with the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borel, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reaffirmed Iran’s official position regarding the war in Ukraine.
“We cooperate with Russia in the field of defense. As for the war in Ukraine, our policy is not to send arms to the conflicting parties“, he announced. Russia has also denied any supplies from its ally.
Threat of US sanctions
Washington, however, threatened on Monday to impose sanctions on companies or states cooperating in Iran’s drone program after the latest strikes in Ukraine carried out by suspected Iranian-made drones. “Anyone doing business with Iran related to the development of drones or ballistic missiles, or (participating in) the flow of arms from Iran to Russia, should be vigilant.State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. “The United States will not hesitate to impose sanctions or take action against those most responsible“. “The strengthening of the alliance between Russia and Iran should be considered by the whole world (..) as a serious danger.“, he added.
The fact that Moscow receives sources from Iran proves, according to him, “enormous pressureAbout Russia after the losses in Ukraine, now.had to turn to unreliable countries such as Iran for supplies of materials and equipmentVedant Patel also added.
Source: Le Figaro
