The European Union said Monday its allies had shared intelligence that Iran supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, and warned of new sanctions on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed.
“We are aware of the credible information provided by allies on the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said.
“We are looking further into it with our member states and if confirmed, this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” he added.
In confirmed, Stano said Brussel would respond “respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners” to introduce “new and significant restrictive measures against Iran.”
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States had briefed European allies that Iran delivered short-range short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.
On Monday, when asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not issue an outright denial that Moscow received missiles from Iran.
“We have seen this report, it is not every time that this kind of information is true,” Peskov said.
“Iran is an important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive areas,” he added.
The West has for months warned Tehran against sending Russia missiles, and the EU has already repeatedly hit Iran with sanctions for supplying drones to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine.
Faced with punishing Western sanctions, Moscow has turned to Iran and North Korea for weapons supplies to keep its war machine going in Ukraine.
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