Iran is stepping up its commitment to supply Russia with weapons for its attack on Ukraine, according to US and allied security officials. Thus, according to officials, Tehran would agree to covertly send not only strike drones, but also what some officials have called Iran’s first surface-to-surface missiles for use against Ukrainian cities and troops, the Washington Post reported..

The increased flow of arms from Tehran could help offset the massive losses in Russian military equipment since the invasion of Moscow in February, which Biden administration officials say have taken place, and the rapid reduction in supplies of precision munitions used in last week’s attacks. against several Ukrainian cities.

In recent days, independent media outlets have published photos of the remains of Iranian-made drones used to attack Ukrainian targets, casting doubt on Iran’s repeated denials that it has supplied such weapons to its ally Russia.

• PHOTO Ukrainian troops allegedly destroyed an Iranian drone near Kupyansk during a rapid counteroffensive on Kharkiv

Pentagon officials have also publicly confirmed the use of Iranian drones during Russian airstrikes, as well as Ukraine’s success in shooting down some drones.

In a clear sign of Iran’s expanding role as a military supplier to Moscow, Tehran sent officials to Russia on Sept. 18 to finalize terms for additional arms deliveries, including two types of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles, according to officials at the firm, a U.S. ally that closely monitors Iran’s weapons activities.

An intelligence assessment recently shared by Ukrainian and U.S. officials says Iran’s arms industry is preparing the first batch of Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles, two of Iran’s prominent short-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets 300 and 700 kilometers away, respectively, two officials said. persons informed about this matter. If this is carried out, it will be the first delivery of such missiles to Russia since the beginning of the war.

Iranian missile Zolfaghar

PHOTO by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the extremely sensitive nature of the intelligence gathering.

Iranian drones sent since August were painted by the Russians

In August, the same officials identified certain Iranian Shahed and Mohajer-6 drones that Tehran had begun supplying to Russia for use in Ukraine. Remains of both types have been discovered, analyzed and photographed by Ukrainian forces in recent weeks. Russia seems to have repainted the weapons and given them Russian names.

Officials briefed on the planned missile delivery said Iran was also preparing new deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia, including “dozens” of additional Mohajer-6 drones and a much larger number of Shahed-136s.

In Odesa, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down an Iranian-made kamikaze drone / Photo: Handout / AFP / Profimedia

The Shahed-136 drones, sometimes called kamikaze drones because they are designed to crash into a target, are capable of delivering explosive charges up to 1,500 miles away.

Iranians visit Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine to give instructions on using drones, but deny sending them

Iranian technical advisers have visited Russian-controlled territory in recent weeks to provide instructions on how to operate the drones, officials said.

The US intelligence services refused to comment on reports that Iranian cargoes were being prepared for Russia. Russian and Iranian officials did not respond to requests for comment on reports of Iranian missiles aimed at Russia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that “the Islamic Republic of Iran has not provided and will not provide any weapons for use in the war in Ukraine,” according to a transcript of a telephone conversation with his Portuguese counterpart. “We believe that arming each side involved in the crisis will prolong the war.”

On October 3, the official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, repeated Iran’s denial of any involvement in the supply of drones to Russia.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the reports about the supply of drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine to be “baseless” and does not confirm them,” he said.

Kanaani confirmed Iran’s claim to neutrality in the conflict and stressed the need for “both sides to resolve their problems through political means without violence.”

The government in Kyiv has been briefed on the evidence behind the new information, a Ukrainian official told The Washington Post. Ukraine has separately assessed that most of the drones recently deployed by Russia in southern Ukraine are Iranian.

Recently, Ukraine severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in response to the appearance of Iranian-made drones on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi last week recalled Russia’s recent airstrikes against Ukraine, calling on NATO countries to supply his country with advanced air defense systems.

“We must protect our skies from Russian terror,” Zelenskyy said Thursday in a speech at the Council of Europe.

Like Iran, Russia has rejected Western allegations of Iranian arms supplies for its war in Ukraine, with presidential spokesman Dmytro Peskov calling the reports “false.”

Iranian missiles will give Russia strength at a time when Ukraine is in the full stage of restoring its territories

Iranian drones have already made their mark, destroying several Ukrainian tanks and destroying civilian infrastructure in repeated strikes over the past three weeks, Ukrainian officials say. Missile experts say the arrival of Iranian missiles could give Russia a powerful new weapon as Kyiv’s forces reclaim captured territory in southern and eastern Ukraine, progress thanks in part to artillery provided from the West.

“The shift from drones to missiles could give the Russians more options and more power,” said Farzin Nadimi, an Iran arms expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Iran has one of the largest and most diverse arsenals of short- and medium-range missiles in the Middle East.

Although they have faced reliability issues, the latest versions of the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar are considered by experts to be powerful and quite accurate at relatively short ranges, Nadimi said. Some models are equipped with electro-optical guidance systems that allow missile operators to guide them close to the final target.

Iran has previously supplied the same missiles to groups in the Middle East, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Houthi forces have displayed Iranian-developed missiles in military parades and used them to attack oil refineries and other civilian targets in neighboring Gulf states.

Russia’s growing dependence on countries such as Iran and North Korea shows the impact of sanctions

Moscow ordered a huge arsenal of missiles at the start of its invasion of Ukraine, but US officials say its stockpile has dwindled sharply over the course of the war, which is now in its seventh month.

Russia’s growing dependence on countries such as Iran and North Korea is evidence of the impact of sanctions and export controls imposed by Western countries after the invasion of Ukraine, according to a presentation by a senior US intelligence official on Friday.

According to information released by the Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Morgan Muir, Russia has lost more than 6,000 pieces of equipment since the start of the war and “was consuming ammunition at an unsustainable rate.”

Foreign ministers may reach political agreement on future sanctions related to transfer of Iranian drones

Three drones operated by Russian forces attacked the small town of Makariv west of the Ukrainian capital on Thursday morning, with officials saying critical infrastructure had been hit by what they said were Iranian-made “kamikaze drones”.

European foreign ministers will discuss the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia on Monday and could reach a political agreement on future sanctions related to such activities, two diplomats said on Friday, cited by Reuters.

A review of drone activity has been carried out and the topic is now high on the agenda, diplomats said, citing preparatory meetings ahead of Monday’s ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg.

The bloc is already set to impose travel bans and asset freezes on about 15 Iranians involved in the crackdown on demonstrations that began last month after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Monday.

France and Germany, both signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, have made it clear they believe new sanctions against Russian drones are needed and that the drone transfer should be seen as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Resolution 2231 approved the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six nations: Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, which limited Tehran’s uranium enrichment activities, making it more difficult for Iran to develop nuclear weapons, in exchange for denuclearization. international sanctions.

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