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British media “Reuters” reported on the 21st local time that a total of six informed sources from Iran and the West revealed that Iran has provided Russia with about 400 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, including a large number of “Zolfargar” missiles. “Fatah-110” series of precision-guided missiles.

One of the Iranian sources said that Iranian and Russian military and security officials met in Tehran and Moscow respectively at the end of last year and finalized an agreement, and Iran began shipping missiles to Russia in early January this year.

Two other Iranian military officials said that so far, Iran has shipped at least 4 batches of missiles to Russia by sea and air, and more batches will be shipped in the coming weeks.

“There will be more shipments. There is no reason to hide it. We can export weapons to any country if we want,” one official told Reuters.

Iran’s Defense Ministry and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declined to comment. The Russian Defense Ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Reuters” stated that the United Nations Security Council’s restrictions on Iran’s export of some missiles, drones and other technologies expired in October last year, but the United States and the European Union retained sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile exports.

Iranian Fateh-110 missile.Picture: Reprinted from the military plane

The White House national security spokesman said in early January that the United States was concerned that Russia was about to obtain short-range ballistic weapons from Iran. But a U.S. official said that although the United States has seen evidence that negotiations are progressing, there is no sign that delivery has been made.

Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the Monterey School of International Studies at Middlebury University in the United States, analyzed that the “Fatah-110” series of missiles are precision weapons, and the “Zolfajar” road-mobile missile can hit targets within a range of 300 to 700 kilometers. , they “are used to target high-value targets that require precision strikes.” He said that if these 400 missiles were used in Ukraine, they could cause considerable damage.

Rob Lee, a senior researcher at the US think tank “Foreign Policy Institute”, also believes that Iran’s provision of “Fatah-100” and “Zolfargar” missiles will give Russia a greater advantage on the battlefield because “They can be used to strike military targets at operational depth, whereas ballistic missiles are more difficult for Ukrainian air defense systems to intercept.”

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said that Ukraine has no official information about Russia’s acquisition of the “Fatah-110” series of missiles, but at the same time reminded that such ballistic missiles will pose a serious threat to Ukraine.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk continued to urge the U.S. Congress to approve the aid plan to Ukraine as soon as possible. “The lack of U.S. support means a shortage of Ukrainian ground air defense systems.”

Western countries have accused the Houthis of providing many of the weapons to Iran.Image: Reprinted from Wikimedia Commons/ypa.ir/Hussain Velayati

“Reuters” mentioned that after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Iran and Russia deepened military defense cooperation. Iranian military officials have said that the military partnership between the two countries “shows Iran’s defense capabilities to the world and does not mean siding with Russia in the Ukrainian conflict.”

In September last year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Tehran and met with the head of the Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In November last year, Iran said it had reached a final agreement with Russia on fighter jet deals and pilot training.

In December last year, Russian President Putin met with visiting Iranian President Raisi in Moscow. In January this year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two countries would soon sign a new and extensive cooperation treaty.

The news that Iran has provided ballistic missiles to Russia has caused concern in the United States and Western countries. A Western diplomat with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Iran has shipped ballistic missiles to Russia in recent weeks. He said that this has made Western countries worried that the two countries have reached a “mutual arms transfer” agreement. If Iran obtains Russia’s advanced weapons, it will have an impact on the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the current regional status quo.

Gregory Brew, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a US-based political risk consultancy, believes: “This relationship is transactional: in exchange, Iran hopes to receive more security cooperation and advanced weapons, especially modern aircraft, from Russia. “

Iranian President Raisi. Picture: taken from Twitter @trtworld

In October last year, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said that the Russian army was using Iranian-made Witness-136 drones (Shahed-136) in Ukraine and called on the West to impose sanctions on Iran.

In December last year, the Ukrainian Air Force stated that Russia launched 3,700 Witness series drones into Ukraine during the conflict. Russia and Iran have repeatedly denied it.

A few days ago, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanani reiterated on the issue of drones: “Those who accuse Iran of providing weapons to one side in the Ukrainian war do so for political purposes. Iran did not send any drones to participate in that war.”

A total of six informed sources from Iran and the West revealed that Iran has provided Russia with about 400 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, including a large number of “Fatah-110” series precision-guided missiles including “Zolfargar” missile.

Iran has shipped at least four batches of missiles to Russia by sea and air, and more batches will be shipped in the coming weeks.

Iran has shipped ballistic missiles to Russia in recent weeks.He said this made Western countries worry that the two countries had reached an agreement on “mutual transfer of arms”

The Witness-136 UAV (pictured) made in Iran is said to be small and difficult to detect.Picture: Reprinted from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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2024-02-22 03:06:25