The European Union said Monday that the West had “credible information” about Iranian ballistic missile deliveries to Russia, with Washington warning that this would represent a “spectacular escalation” and have “significant consequences”.
“If confirmed, this delivery would represent a significant material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Peter Stano, a spokesman for the EU’s diplomatic service.
“The European Union will respond swiftly and in coordination with its international partners, including by taking further and significant restrictive measures against Iran,” the spokesperson added.
The United States then went further than the Europeans, threatening Iran with “significant consequences.”
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said.
“We have made clear that we are prepared to impose significant consequences,” the spokesman added, without specifying what measures the United States or its allies could take against Iran.
The United States and Ukraine’s European allies have repeatedly warned Iran in the past that missile deliveries would lead to serious consequences, while Tehran is already under numerous Western sanctions.
– “substantial escalation” –
For NATO, “any transfer of ballistic missiles and associated technology from Iran to Russia would represent a substantial escalation,” declared a spokesman for the Atlantic Alliance.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States has informed its European allies of the delivery of Iranian short-range missiles to Russia at a time when the latter is stepping up attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The Kremlin did not deny that Iran was supplying it with such missiles, noting that Russia was developing its relations with Tehran as it saw fit, particularly in the “most sensitive” areas.
“This kind of information is not always true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, without denying the accusations.
“Iran is an important partner, we are developing our economic and commercial relations, our cooperation, our dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones and we will continue to do so,” he added.
– Iran denies –
Tehran, for its part, has assured that it is not delivering weapons to Moscow.
“We categorically reject claims that Iran played a role in exporting weapons to any of the conflicting parties,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Monday.
Russia, which has been waging war on Ukraine for more than two and a half years, bombing its cities and claiming the annexation of a large part of its territory, has increased its military production and is also said to be obtaining supplies from its North Korean neighbor.
The West arms Ukraine but forbids it from using the missiles delivered to strike Russian territory, something kyiv has long demanded, since the launchers and planes bombing it are generally based in Russia and not on Ukrainian territory.
– New Russian conquest –
Washington stressed in mid-August that Iran should expect significant consequences if it decides to supply missiles to Russia.
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell also mentioned new sanctions in the case of missile deliveries to Russia.
The US and the EU have already imposed sanctions on Iranian drone manufacturers, whose products were supplied to Russia.
Ukraine, which is facing a Russian offensive in the east of the country, is targeted daily by “Shahed” type drones, developed by Iran.
Moscow’s forces are particularly continuing to gain ground towards the Pokrovsk railway and road junction. On Monday, the Russian army claimed to have captured a new village in this area, Memryk.
kyiv has launched a ground offensive into Russian territory in the Kursk region, taking control of more than 1,000 square kilometers, in an attempt to force Moscow to redeploy troops fighting in eastern Ukraine, without success so far.
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