Iran accused by EU and US of delivering ballistic missiles to Russia

The European Union (EU) believes that the allies have“credible information” on the delivery of ballistic missiles by Iran to Russia, a spokesman said on Monday, September 9.

“We are reviewing the matter with member states, and 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, spokesman for the EU diplomatic service.

“The unanimous position of European leaders has always been clear. The European Union will respond swiftly and in coordination with its international partners, including by taking new and significant restrictive measures against Iran.”the spokesperson added.

“We categorically reject claims that Iran played a role in exporting arms to any of the parties to the conflict.”Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said at his weekly briefing on Monday.

The Kremlin does not deny it

For its part, the Kremlin did not deny on Monday that Iran was delivering missiles to it. “This type of information is not always true”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing. “Iran is an important partner” he added, noting that the two countries were developing their cooperation “in all possible areas, including the most sensitive”.

According to the Wall Street Journalthe United States informed its European allies of the effective delivery of Iranian short-range missiles to Russia at a time when the latter has redoubled its attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

The United States and Ukraine’s European allies have repeatedly warned that such deliveries would have serious consequences for Iran, which is already under numerous Western sanctions.

The United States warned again in mid-August that Iran should expect serious consequences if it decided 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.