US President Blinken says Russia received ballistic missiles from Iran | News on the war between Russia and Ukraine

The USA, Great Britain, France and Germany have announced sanctions against Iran and the EU has also announced a decisive response.

The United States has officially accused Iran of supplying Russia with short-range missiles for the war in Ukraine and announced new sanctions against Tehran.

“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them in Ukraine against Ukrainians within weeks,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to London on Tuesday together with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

“The delivery of Iranian missiles will enable Russia to deploy a larger portion of its arsenal against targets further from the front line.”

Iran has denied supplying Russia with weapons for the war in Ukraine.

“Iran considers the provision of military support to the parties to the conflict – which leads to increased casualties, destruction of infrastructure and distancing from ceasefire negotiations – to be inhumane,” said a recent statement by the Iranian mission to the United Nations.

“Therefore, Iran not only refrains from such actions itself, but also calls on other countries to stop supplying weapons to the parties involved in the conflict.”

“We firmly reject the allegations that Iran has exported weapons to any side of the war,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference on Monday.

“Iran's prosecutors are among the largest arms exporters to one side of the war,” he added, reiterating that Tehran was “not part of the war” in Ukraine.

Iran is already one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, and some experts question the usefulness of further economic sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the State Department imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and nine companies based in Iran and Russia, the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions freeze all U.S. assets of those affected, deny them access, and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with these assets.

Tuesday's sanctions also affect ships that regularly transport cargo across the Caspian Sea between Iran and Russia, including the Port Olya-3, a ship owned by Russia-based MG-FLOT that is used to transport short-range ballistic missiles, the Treasury Department said.

According to ship tracking data, the vessel made a series of voyages between the Russian port of Olya on the Caspian Sea and the Iranian port of Amirabad between May and August this year.

The State Department also said Iran Air had been increasingly targeted because the airline had been used to procure sensitive goods from the West and transport materials for Iran's drone program.

France, Germany and Britain also announced that they would terminate their air transport agreements with Iran and announced sanctions against Iran Air and against all those involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and supplying weapons to Russia.

While calling sanctions against Iran over missile deliveries a “positive step,” senior Ukrainian presidential official Andriy Yermak said it was not enough.

“We also need permission to use Western weapons against military targets on Russian territory, deploy longer-range missiles and improve our air defense systems,” Yermak said on the social media platform X.

The sanctions come as Blinken and Lammy prepare for a joint visit to Ukraine on Wednesday, where they will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior politicians to discuss strengthening the country's defense.

The allegations about Iranian missiles could encourage Zelensky to further increase pressure on the United States and other allies to allow Ukraine to use Western-fired missiles to launch attacks deep inside Russia and hit targets from which Moscow launches airstrikes.

Lammy described Iran's missile deliveries to Russia as “a worrying pattern that we are seeing. It is definitely a significant escalation.”