A decision by Iran to supply Moscow with ballistic missiles for its war in Ukraine raises the chances of Washington and London finally allowing Kyiv to fire their long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.
Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, used a press conference with his British counterpart, David Lammy, in London on Tuesday to announce that the US believes the Russian military has received shipments of Iranian short-range Fatah-360 ballistic missiles.
Mr Blinken said Russian troops have been trained on how to deploy the munitions, and warned that Russian commanders “will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians”.
The comments came after Sky News and other news organisations reported on Saturday that the Kremlin had received more than 200 Fateh-360 missiles, with a range of more than 70 miles, in defiance of warnings from the West.
It is a serious step up in what is already a significant level of military assistance given by Iran to its ally, which until now had comprised attack drones, ammunition, and artillery shells – aid that had already triggered increased Western sanctions and outrage.
Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander, Brigadier Fazlollah Nozari, denied the claim, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency, as he branded it “a kind of psychological warfare”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had seen the report, but not all such reports were correct.
He said: “Iran is our 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 ones.”
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‘Russia has received Iranian missiles’
Mr Blinken called the supply of ballistic missiles a “dramatic escalation” and said further sanctions would follow.
Mr Lammy condemned the Iranian move as a “significant escalation” and added: “I will have more to say on that shortly”. This will also include sanctions.
Beyond diplomatic and economic punishments, however, the two top diplomats were asked whether Iran’s supply of ballistic missiles would prompt the US and the UK to heed Ukrainian pleas to be permitted to fire American and British long-range missiles inside Russia.
This has so far not been granted because of concerns about how Russia might respond.
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Mr Blinken signalled the use of long-range missiles – already permitted against Russian targets inside Ukraine, including occupied Crimea – is a topic that will feature when US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hold a meeting in Washington on Friday.
He also said that he and Mr Lammy would be travelling together to Ukraine before then to speak with Ukrainian leaders about how they would like to use such weapons in Russia.
Mr Blinken said they would listen to the Ukrainian requests and reasonings and relay them back to their respective leaders.