Iran recently delivered short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine, a shipment that U.S. and Western officials have warned was in the works for nearly a year, according to two sources familiar with the intelligence community.
It is unclear exactly when the missiles were delivered, but the transfer comes as Russia has stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and Ukraine braces for large-scale Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure this winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told allies at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany on Friday that Ukraine urgently needed more air defense systems.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that Iran had supplied the missiles.
The delivery of ballistic missiles marks a significant escalation in Iran’s support for Russia. Iran has already supplied Russia with hundreds of drones that Russian forces have used in their war against Ukraine, and Russia has built a drone production facility in the country with Iranian help, CNN reported.
Officials previously told CNN that Russian negotiations to acquire Iran’s short-range missiles began as early as September last year, when then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Iran to view the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Ababil short-range missile systems.
“This event marked the first public display of ballistic missiles to a senior Russian official visiting Iran since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war,” an official told CNN in January.
In March, the G7 issued a strong joint statement warning that the international community’s response will include “new and significant measures against Iran” if it continues to send ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war effort against Ukraine.
Last December, the IRGC deployed ballistic missiles and missile support systems to a training range in Iran to show them to visiting Russian delegations, all signs that Russia was planning to buy the systems from Iran.
Russia has also received missiles and missile parts from North Korea, CNN previously reported. And China is helping Russia ramp up its defense industrial base on such a scale that Moscow is now undertaking its most ambitious expansion of military production since the Soviet era, officials said. China’s aid to Russia has included significant quantities of machine tools, drone and turbojet engines, and cruise missile technology.
CNN has reached out to the Russian embassy and Iran’s UN mission for comment.
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