The United States has announced that in response to Iran’s ongoing support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, it will impose additional sanctions on Iran in the coming days. “And we are prepared to go further if Iran sells ballistic missiles to Russia,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told media via teleconference.
Iran’s deepening military partnership with Russia is not only harmful to Ukraine but also to Iran’s neighbors in the region and to the international community, according to him.
Russia has been using significant numbers of drones, guided aerial bombs, and artillery ammunition supplied by Iran, to attack Ukraine.
The White House had warned last month that Russian negotiations to acquire close-range ballistic missiles from Iran have been actively advancing.
Earlier this week, Reuters published a report indicating that Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of ballistic missiles, apparently based on comments from Iranian government officials.
“While we have been monitoring this closely, we have not seen any confirmation that missiles have actually moved from Iran to Russia,” Kirby told reporters. “But in this press reporting, the Iranians are clearly indicating that they will ship ballistic missiles to Russia, and we have no reason to believe that they will not follow through.”
The top U.S. official warned that if Iran proceeds with this, the response from the international community will be “swift and it will be severe”. He added that Washington will take this matter to the U.N. Security Council.
Kirby pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin is capitalizing on the delay in the U.S. House of Representatives approving the Bipartisan national security Bill.
“He has been deepening his relationship with Iran now for many months, but the potential pursuit of ballistic missiles with a range and destructive power that they could bring is further evidence that he believes Congress will not act. He clearly believes now is his best chance to bring Ukraine to its knees, that now is the time to strike deeper behind their lines, destroying military bases and military units and their defense industry. He’s counting on the West giving up and on Ukraine being left to fend for itself.”
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