Russia has branded Iran an “important partner” as it failed to refute reports that Tehran is supplying it with short-range ballistic missiles.
A Kremlin spokesman made the comments on Monday, as the European Union said that it has “credible information” regarding the supply of missiles to Russia’s forces waging war on Ukraine. Moscow and Tehran have drawn closer since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022, with Iran supplying its Shahed drones.
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander has however denied the reports.
“No missile was sent to Russia and this claim is a kind of psychological warfare,” Brigadier Fazlollah Nozari, deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency.
“Iran does not support any of the parties to the Ukraine-Russia conflict,” Nozari said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that missiles are being supplied. The EU backed that claim up on Monday, as a spokesman said that its allies have shared such intelligence and warned of new sanctions on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed.
“We strongly reject the claims of Iran’s role in exporting arms to one side of the war,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told a news conference.
“Iran’s accusers are the ones who are among the biggest arms exporters to one side of the war,” he added, reiterating that Tehran “is not part of the war” in Ukraine.
While Iran sought to deny the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov failed to follow suit.
“We have seen this report; it is not every time that this kind of information is true,” he said.
“Iran is our important partner. We are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive areas,” Peskov added.
Meanwhile, White House spokesperson John Kirby said in Washington on Monday that he “cannot confirm the reports that the transfer has happened.”
“Such a scenario would have deleterious effects on both Ukraine and the Middle East,” he added.
Punishing Western sanctions have pushed Moscow to turn to Iran and North Korea for weapons supplies to fight Ukraine.
Last week, Kyiv warned of the threat that deepening military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow poses not only to Ukraine but also the wider region and Europe, and called on the international community to increase pressure on the pair.
That language was echoed on Monday by a NATO spokesperson, who said the Western military alliance was aware of the media reports but would not be drawn on whether they were accurate.
“As allies have stated previously, any transfer of ballistic missiles and related technology by Iran to Russia would represent a substantial escalation,” the spokesperson said.
