New photos posted on social media by the Ukrainian military show that they have received a new batch of ammunition from Iran, a country that militarily supports Russia in its war against Ukraine.

In the photo published by the fighters of the 24th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it can be seen that they received 120 mm M48 howitzers of Iranian production. One of the pictures also shows an HM-16 mortar, another Iranian-made weapon.

The administrators of the Ukraine Weapons Tracker page explain that these projectiles can be easily identified by their distinctive color, markings and the way the rings are positioned to help move them away from the weapon they are fired from.

The markings also indicate that they were produced in 2022 by a batch that likely rolled off the assembly lines after the war in Ukraine began.

“Given the varying amounts and types of Iranian ammunition and weapons seen in the Ukrainian military, it is likely that they were acquired by Ukraine from Iran through a third party,” Ukraine Weapons Tracker notes.

The Ukrainian army uses Iranian-made mortars

Back in July of last year, a video appeared on social media showing Ukrainian soldiers using several types of weapons made in Iran, and at the time the images caused confusion as to how they could have ended up in Kyiv’s armed forces, given that Iran was one of the countries who refused to condemn Russian aggression.

In this recording, exactly 4 HM-16 mortars were visible, this weapon is also depicted in one of the photos that are currently appearing on social networks.

Although a major strengthening of ties between Moscow and Tehran and the supply of Iranian kamikaze drones to the Russian military would not happen until later, last summer Iran gave several strong signals that it would join Russia in what Russian propaganda calls a war. against the “collective West”.

On June 22, the press in Tehran announced a “stepping up” of relations and cooperation between Russia and Iran on June 22, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tehran on an official visit, where he met with several officials, including the ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi.

The images released on July 14 of Iranian mortars being used by Kiev soldiers were even more surprising because they were released just days after the United States first accused Iran of preparing to send drones to the Russian military for use in the war against Ukraine.

Iran, a duplicitous ally of Russia?

At the time, there was speculation that the 120mm mortars seen in the footage were either purchased by Ukrainians from an independent contractor or supplied by the United States after being captured during the Middle East fighting against the Islamic State.

But another video that surfaced on social media in September suggests that Iran was also sending projectiles to Ukraine under a procurement contract, not just through client groups, though most likely with the help of third parties, as in with ammunition provided to Kiev by Bulgaria.

At the official level, Tehran denies this, as in the case of the supply of drones to Russia.

At the time, Ukraine Weapons Tracker explained that the projectiles seen in the footage were manufactured in 2022 and there is no information that they were intercepted by outsiders.

Combined with other available information, the administrators of this page, known for monitoring weapons used during the war in Ukraine, concluded that “we can say with a high degree of confidence that the ammunition we see here was bought in Iran, possibly through third party for the purpose of disclaiming responsibility”.

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