Blinken confirms Iran supplying Russia with short-range ballistic missiles

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday confirmed that Iran has supplied Russia with short-range ballistic missiles and "will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine."

"The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, while dedicating new missiles it's receiving from Iran [for] closer range targets," Blinken said while speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a trip to London.

Blinken vowed Tehran would face repercussions for the transfer of ballistic weapons and said the U.S. would be announcing additional sanctions on Iran later on Tuesday. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, arrives for a strategic dialogue meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

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"There will be significant economic consequences for Iran's actions," he said, adding that European allies were expected to announce their own sanction-based actions against Tehran shortly.

Reports first surfaced on Monday showing that the European Union and its allied partners had received "credible" information that Moscow was receiving the top weaponry from its Middle Eastern ally despite warnings from the U.S. and NATO. 

"This development and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threatens European security and demonstrates how Iran's decentralized influence reaches far beyond the Middle East," Blinken said. 

The secretary said Russia and Iran continue to share information in areas of major geopolitical concern, including on nuclear development and space-based technology. 

Smoke rises over the Kyiv, Ukraine, skyline after a Russian attack on Monday, July 8, 2024. Russian forces launched multiple ballistic and cruise missiles against Ukrainian targets on Monday, Ukraine’s air force said. (AP Photo/ Evgeniy Maloletka)

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The nuclear watchdog for the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Monday warned that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program unchecked for the last three and half years and increased its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium to levels of 60% purity – just shy of weapons-grade uranium, which is achieved with 90% purity levels. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he urged new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian – who has expressed an interest in working with Western nations to alleviate sanctions for Iran – to meet with him in the "not to distant future" to establish a "constructive dialogue."

Vehicles drive past a huge billboard depicting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, right, and slain Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at Tehran's Valiasr Square on Aug. 12, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

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However, Blinken on Tuesday warned that aiding Russia in its deadly war against Ukraine will have crippling consequences for Tehran.

"Iran's new president and foreign minister have repeatedly said that they want to restore engagement with Europe," Blinken told reporters Tuesday. "They want to receive sanctions relief. Destabilizing actions like these will achieve exactly the opposite."

According to Reuters' reporting, Germany, France and the U.K. have "strongly condemned" Iran's supply of ballistic missiles to Russia, though no specific sanctions have been announced.