The deepening military ties between Iran and Russia are a result of failed Washington policy toward Tehran under the last two U.S. administrations, an advocacy group has said.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed European and American officials, reported that Tehran had sent hundreds of unspecified short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow with future shipments expected.
Iran has denied providing weapons to either side of the conflict started by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, over the course of the war, Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles, such as Shahed-131/136 drones, have wreaked havoc across Ukraine.
Reacting to the report, the National Iranian American Council, a nonprofit promoting ties between the U.S. and Iran that has also been described as a pro-Iranian advocate, condemned Tehran’s alleged provision of ballistic missiles for Russia’s assault on Ukraine as “a direct step against the interests of peace and stability.”
Ryan Costello, NIAC’s policy director, said in a statement to Newsweek that closer military ties between Russia and Iran were “an unfortunate and predictable consequence of the Trump administration’s decision to snap back sanctions on Iran and scuttle hard-fought efforts to improve ties with the West.”
He also criticized “the Biden administration’s failure to restore the accord.”
This illustrative image shows an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone flying over the sky of Kermanshah, Iran, on March 7. Russia has used the drones in Ukraine, and Tehran has reportedly supplied Russia with hundreds of missiles amid deepening military cooperation between the allies.
Newsweek has contacted the White House, Trump’s team, and the Iranian and Russian foreign ministries for comment.
As president, Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 nuclear deal Washington had signed with Iran and world powers. When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he stated his intention to rejoin the Iran deal, but this has not been realized.
“More sanctions for deepening Russia-Iran military ties will not seriously punish either nation’s leaders, as each nation is already deeply sanctioned,” Costello said. “The U.S. and Europe must make a break from the dead-end policies of escalation and isolation, and find a way to de-escalate across the board with Iran.”
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations previously told Newsweek that Tehran had not provided weapons to either side of the conflict in Ukraine and that “military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict” would be “inhumane.”
Over the past year, Iran has expanded at least two of its defense industrial sites producing drones and missiles outside Tehran, some of which are bound for Russia, Reuters reported in July.
The Institute for the Study of War said on Friday that Russia would likely use Iranian-provided ballistic missiles to target Ukrainian energy, military and civilian infrastructure over the coming fall and winter—part of “the deepening strategic partnership between Iran and Russia.”
The ISW said that during a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Tehran last month, Iran pressed Moscow for Sukhoi Su-35 jets, which would boost the air power of the Islamic republic.
Tehran has also asked for Russian support in upgrading its cyber capabilities and missile and space programs, ISW said, leading the U.S. and some European countries to prepare a sanctions response.
