The United States has officially informed its allies (confirming media reports) that they believed Iran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for its war effort in Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people did not provide details on the number of weapons delivered or the dates of the transfers, but they confirmed the conclusions of the American intelligence services.
Reuters, which first reported the imminent transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia, wrote that it could be the Fath-360, a system that launches ballistic missiles with a range of up to 120 kilometers and a 150-kilogram warhead.
The US National Security Council has said that if Iran transfers or transfers ballistic missiles to Russia, it would be a “dramatic escalation.”
The White House declined to confirm the arms transfers, but reiterated concerns that Iran is increasing its support for Russia.
For months, Washington has been warning Tehran against transferring ballistic missiles to Russia.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation of Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and would lead to the killing of more Ukrainian civilians,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.
“This partnership threatens the security of Europe and illustrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence extends beyond the Middle East and around the world.”
Since autumn 2022, Iran has already been supplying Russia with weapons for the battlefield, namely its Shahed attack drone.
These drones are considered Tehran’s most significant contribution to Russia’s war effort because of the damage they are capable of inflicting.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed “concern” the day before over media reports about the transfer of Iranian missiles to Moscow. “Once again, we call on the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran to refrain from transferring any types of weapons and military equipment to Russia, which is an aggressor state in the sense of the UN Charter and international law,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia advances in the East, hits Sumy and Mykolaivka
The U.S. intelligence findings come as Russia claims to have seized another village in the eastern Donetsk region and continues to strike other towns in eastern Ukraine.
On the night of September 8, the Russians carried out an airstrike on the city of Sumy, killing two people, including two children.
The Russian military also struck a hotel in the town of Mykolaivka, Donetsk region, at around 9:50 p.m. on September 7, with two people being searched for under the rubble.
The Moscow Times quotes the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that Russian forces “liberated” the village of Kalynove, located about 25 kilometers southeast of Pokrovsk.
Deepstate, meanwhile, claims that “the enemy has occupied Nevelske and advanced to Krasnohorivka. Fighting continues north of Hirnyk.”
Russian troops have been advancing on the key logistics hub for months, prompting Ukraine to order the mandatory evacuation of children from the city last month.
Moscow says it has seized a series of villages in Donetsk, even as it fights a major Ukrainian incursion into its Kursk region.
The surprise Ukrainian military operation in Kursk, which began on August 6, took even Kyiv’s Western supporters by surprise.
The Kursk raid was a “significant tactical success”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that the aim of the incursion was to create a buffer zone inside Russia to prevent it from launching further attacks on Ukraine, but he stressed that he had no interest in permanently occupying Russian territory.
Speaking at a rare public event in London, the heads of the British and US foreign intelligence agencies said the incursion was a significant achievement that could change the narrative of the war.
“It’s typically bold and reckless of the Ukrainians to try to change the game in some way. And I think they have, to some extent, changed the game,” said Richard Moore, head of MI6.
“By taking Kursk, the Ukrainians really made ordinary Russians understand what war was all about.”
CIA Director William Burns said, “It not only boosted Ukrainian morale, it also exposed some of the vulnerabilities of Putin’s Russia and its military,” calling the raid a “significant tactical success.” “It raised questions… …for the entire Russian elite about what this is going to achieve,” he said.
