Is Iran Going To Supply Russia With Missiles, To Aid Moscow's War Effort In Ukraine?

Iran will be supplying drones and missiles to Russia to aid Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, Washington Post stated, citing a United States official.

The report mentions that Iran will be sending not just the Shahed drones that Russia has used effectively in the war but also missiles intended to target Ukraine's critical infrastructure and troop positions.

These are reportedly the first surface-to-surface missiles that Iran has manufactured. 

This supply of weapons from Tehran will help Russia as the country has lost a significant amount of military equipment since the war began and there have been reports that Russia is also running low on precision-guided munitions, after the missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Iran sent officials to Russia on 18 September to talk about weapons shipments, which includes Iran's surface-to-surface missiles, officials from US intelligence sources said, as per the report.

The report mentions intelligence assessment that was reportedly shared with Ukrainians recently. The intelligence assessment suggests that Iran’s arms industry will be shipping Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles to Russia.

These are short-range ballistic missiles with a strike range of 300 and 700 kilometers.  

Other than missiles, drones will also be shipped, as Iranian officials allegedly visited Russia recently to inform Russians how to operate the drones.

The statements by Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, however, seem to deny the arm shipment plans.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has not and will not provide any weapon to be used in the war in Ukraine. We believe that the arming of each side of the crisis will prolong the war,” said the minister. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers reports about delivering drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war ‘baseless’ and does not confirm them," said Iran's Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Nasser Kan’ani, echoing the views of the Iranian Foreign Minister.

Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has also denied reports of Moscow acquiring armaments from Iran and labelled them 'bogus'. 

Many analysts of foreign policy wanted to see if Beijing will supply Russia with armaments, considering Beijing's significant industrial capacity. As of now, all signs indicate that Beijing has avoided supplying Russia with armaments, fearing sanctions from the US.

US national security advisor Jake Sullivan apparently warned the Chinese that the consequences of supplying Ukraine with arms will be severe.

Russia is for now, as per reports, importing arms from Iran and North Korea. Pyongyang too, like Tehran, has denied these claims.