Iran will face new sanctions for supplying missiles to Russia, Blinken says

Iran will be hit with new sanctions Tuesday for supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced.

Speaking at a joint news conference in London with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Blinken said he expected Russia would begin using the missiles against Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Blinken called Iran’s decision to transfer the missiles to Moscow “a dramatic escalation.”

“We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately, that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation. Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the FATH-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles. Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine,” Blinken said.

Blinken explained that Iranian missiles will give Russia an “additional capability” and “additional flexibility,” explaining that Russia will now be able to use their own arsenal to hit targets beyond the front lines while they use the short-range ballistic missiles from Iran to hit closer targets.

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 country with Iran’s help, CNN has reported. Iran has also trained Russia on how to use the drones.

In return for the new missiles, Russia will provide Iran with technology “including on nuclear issues, as well as some space information,” Blinken said. He called the relationship a “two-way street.”

“As Iran’s destabilizing activity spread, so does Russia, sowing even greater insecurity in their regions and around the world. In recent days, we’ve been sharing intelligence behind these findings, with our allies and partners and working together to ensure that there will be significant economic consequences for Tehran’s actions,” Blinken said.

The new sanctions include additional measures on Iran Air, the national airline, Blinken said. “Anyone who proves assistance to Russia … is perpetuating the war, is perpetuating the conflict,” he added.

Lammy similarly called Iran’s actions “a troubling pattern” and “a significant escalation.”

Blinken and Lammy said they would make a joint visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, later this week. Lammy described it as the “first joint visit of this kind for well over a decade.”

CNN previously reported that the shipment of the Iranian missiles had arrived in Russia. Iranian officials have denied that they sent missiles to Russia.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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