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The US, UK, Germany and France have announced a fresh round of sanctions against Iran after accusing Tehran of sending ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Russia was expected to deploy the new missiles against Ukraine “within weeks”, as he appeared at a press conference alongside UK foreign secretary David Lammy in London.
Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times at the weekend that Iran had delivered a shipment of “more than 200” Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, which they said marked a “serious escalation” of Tehran’s support for Moscow in the conflict.
Blinken said the missiles, which have a maximum range of 75 miles (120km), offered Moscow “additional capability and additional flexibility”, allowing Russia to save its existing long-range missiles for targets further inside Ukraine.
“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians,” Blinken said.
He added: “The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line.”
Blinken and Lammy raised concerns about Iran’s increasing support for the Kremlin in the war. Blinken said the enhanced co-ordination between the two “threatens European security”, while Lammy said the missile shipment was “a troubling pattern” and “definitely a significant escalation”.
The new US sanctions imposed on Tehran would include fresh measures against Iran Air, Blinken said. The US and UK have designated several individuals and entities linked to Iranian ballistic missile and drone supply chains.
In a separate, co-ordinated move the so-called E3 nations — the UK, Germany and France — also announced the deepening of their sanctions regimes against Iran on Tuesday in response to the alleged missile transfer, targeting individuals and organisations linked to Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
They cancelled bilateral air services agreements with Iran, which will restrict Iran Air services into their countries, as well as direct flights from the UK, France and Germany to Iran. The measures will not take effect for 12 months.
Iran has denied providing Russia with weapons for its war in Ukraine.
Blinken also warned about Russia’s growing reliance on North Korea and China to support its war efforts.
He and Lammy announced they would travel together to Kyiv later this week, the first such joint visit by American and British foreign ministers in more than a decade.
Their mission is “to look and to listen” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his war needs and report back to US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with their assessments, Blinken said.
Biden and Starmer will discuss the issue of restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles supplied by the west when the two leaders meet at the White House on Friday, he added.
The US secretary of state said: “One of the purposes of the trip we will be taking together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership . . . about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, towards what objectives and what we can do to support those needs.”
Blinken said he and Lammy “will be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners, we will both be reporting back to the prime minister, to President Biden in the coming days and I fully anticipate this is something they will take up when they meet on Friday”.
