(CNN) – Iran recently transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the intelligence, completing a delivery that U.S. and Western officials had warned was in the works for nearly a year.
It is unclear when exactly the missiles were delivered, but their transfer comes as Russia has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and as Ukraine prepares for large-scale Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure this winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his allies at a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group in Germany on Friday that Ukraine urgently needed more air defense systems.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Iran had delivered the missiles.
The supply of ballistic missiles marks a significant escalation of Iran’s support for Russia. Iran has already provided Russia with hundreds of drones that Russian forces have used in their war against Ukraine, and Russia has been building a drone manufacturing facility in the country with Iran’s help, CNN reported.
Russian negotiations to acquire short-range ballistic missiles from Iran began last September, officials previously told CNN, when then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Iran to see the Ababil short-range ballistic missile systems of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (CRGI).
“This event marked the first public display of ballistic missiles to a senior Russian official visiting Iran since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war,” an official told CNN in January.
In March, the G7 issued a strongly worded joint statement warning that the international community’s response will include “significant new measures against Iran” if the country goes ahead with sending ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war effort against Ukraine.
Last December, the CRGI deployed ballistic missiles and missile support systems to a training area inside Iran to demonstrate to visiting Russian delegations, all signs that Russia intended to purchase the systems from Iran.
Russia has also been receiving missiles and missile components from North Korea, CNN previously reported. And China is helping Russia grow its defense industrial base on such a large scale that Moscow is now undertaking its most ambitious expansion in military manufacturing since the Soviet era, officials said. China’s support for Russia has included significant quantities of machine tools, drone engines and turbojet engines, as well as technology for cruise missiles.
CNN requested comment from the Russian embassy and the Iranian mission to the UN.
