The United States has claimed that Iran has provided Russia with shipments of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles as a boost to Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
“We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately, that taking this step would be a dangerous escalation,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, adding, “Russia has now received shipments of these missiles.”
Zelensky said on Thursday he had received information from Western intelligence about the Iranian ballistic missile deliveries to Moscow.
“But I cannot confirm the use of the missiles for now. I can only confirm when we have evidence. As it was with North Korea,” the president added.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that Tehran did not supply Moscow with ballistic missiles, despite what the “sanctions addicts” in the West claim.
The US has already announced the measures against Iran Air and a number of Iranian and Russian shipping companies. The UK, France, and Germany followed suit by canceling bilateral agreements allowing Iran Air to enter their airspace, and by sanctioning Russian and Iranian companies, vessels, and individuals allegedly involved in the missile trade.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Araghchi said that the US and its allies were acting “on false intelligence and false logic.”
“Iran has NOT delivered ballistic missiles to Russia. Period,” he wrote. “Sanction addicts should ask themselves: how is Iran able to make and supposedly sell sophisticated arms?”
“Sanctions are not the solution but part of the problem,” he concluded.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry announced last week that if Iran provides ballistic missiles to Russia, “It will have devastating consequences for Ukrainian-Iranian bilateral relations.”
Heorhii Tykhyi, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated that Kyiv does not rule out severing of diplomatic ties with Tehran.
