Iran planning to send missiles, drones to Russia for Ukraine war, officials say - The Washington Post

Independent quality outlets successful caller days published photos of the remains of what look to beryllium Iranian-made drones utilized successful strikes against Ukrainian targets, calling into question Iran’s repeated denials that it has supplied specified weapons to its state Russia. Pentagon officials besides publically confirmed the usage of Iranian drones successful Russian aerial strikes, arsenic good arsenic Ukraine’s occurrence successful shooting immoderate of the drones down.

In an evident motion of Iran’s expanded relation arsenic a subject supplier to Moscow, Tehran dispatched officials to Russia connected Sept. 18 to finalize presumption for further weapons shipments, including 2 types of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles, according to officials from a U.S.-allied state that intimately monitors Iran’s weapons activity.

An quality appraisal shared successful caller days with Ukrainian and U.S. officials contends that Iran’s armaments manufacture is preparing a archetypal shipment of Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles, 2 well-known Iranian short-range ballistic missiles susceptible of striking targets astatine distances of 300 and 700 kilometers, respectively, 2 officials briefed connected the substance said. If carried out, it would beryllium the archetypal transportation of specified missiles to Russia since the commencement of the war.

The officials spoke connected the information that their names and nationalities not beryllium revealed due to the fact that of the utmost sensitivities surrounding intelligence-collection efforts.

In August, the aforesaid officials identified 2 types of Iranian drones, the Muhajer-6 and Shahed-136, that Tehran was opening to proviso to Russia for usage successful Ukraine. The remains of some types person been recovered, analyzed and photographed by Ukrainian forces successful caller weeks. Russia appears to person repainted the weapons and fixed them Russian names.

The officials briefed connected the planned missiles shipment said Iran besides is preparing caller deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles for Russia, including “dozens” of further Mujaher-6s and a larger fig of Shahed-136s. The latter, sometimes called “kamikaze” drones due to the fact that they are designed to clang into their targets, are susceptible of delivering explosive payloads astatine distances of up to 1,500 miles. Iranian method advisers person visited Russian-controlled areas successful caller weeks to supply instructions connected operating the drones, the officials said.

U.S. quality agencies declined to remark connected the reports of pending Iranian shipments to Russia. Russian and Iranian officials did not respond to requests for remark connected Saturday connected reports of Russian-bound Iranian missiles.

On Oct. 3, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kan’ani repeated Iran’s persistent denials of immoderate engagement with supplying drones to Russia. “The Islamic Republic of Iran considers reports astir delivering drones to Russia for usage successful the Ukraine warfare ‘baseless’ and does not corroborate them,” helium said. Kan’ani reasserted Iran’s assertion of neutrality successful the struggle and stressed the request for the “two sides to lick their problems done governmental means escaped from violence.”

The Kyiv authorities has been briefed connected the grounds down the caller intelligence, a Ukrainian authoritative told The Washington Post. Ukraine has separately assessed that the bulk of drones precocious deployed by Russia successful the confederate Ukraine are Iranian-made.

Ukraine precocious downgraded its diplomatic ties with Tehran successful effect to the quality of Iranian-made drones implicit the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky past week cited Russia’s caller aerial strikes successful urging NATO countries to proviso his state with precocious air-defense systems.

“We request to support our entity from the panic of Russia,” Zelensky said Thursday successful a code to the Council of Europe.

Like Iran, Russia has pushed backmost against Western reports astir the shipment of Iranian weapons for its Ukrainian campaign, with Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov deriding specified accounts arsenic “bogus.”

But Iranian drones already person made their mark, destroying respective Ukrainian tanks and damaging civilian infrastructure successful repeated strikes successful the past 3 weeks, Ukrainian officials say. Missiles experts accidental the accomplishment of surface-to-surface missiles could springiness Russia almighty caller weapons astatine clip erstwhile Kyiv’s forces are reclaiming captured territory crossed ample swaths of confederate and eastbound Ukraine, successes that are owed successful portion to Western-supplied artillery.

“The progression from drones to surface-to-surface missiles could springiness the Russians much options and a batch of punch,” said Farzin Nadimi, an adept connected Iranian weapons astatine the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington deliberation tank.

Iran possesses 1 of the largest and astir divers arsenals of short- and medium-range missiles successful the Middle East. While Iranian weapons designers person struggled with reliability problems, the newest versions of the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar are considered by experts to beryllium some potent and reasonably close astatine comparatively abbreviated distances, Nadimi said. Some models travel with electro-optic guidance systems that let rocket operators to usher them successful their last attack to the target.

Iran has antecedently provided the aforesaid missiles to proxy militia groups successful the Middle East, astir notably Houthi fighters successful Yemen. Houthi forces person displayed Iranian-designed missiles successful subject parades and utilized them successful attacks against lipid refineries and different civilian targets successful neighboring Gulf countries.

Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, oregon UAVs, which are utilized chiefly for surveillance and artillery spotting. But Moscow has not invested successful ample fleets of equipped drones of the benignant that U.S. forces person routinely utilized successful subject campaigns successful Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Moscow did bid a immense arsenal of precision-guided missiles and rockets astatine the outset of the Ukraine invasion, but U.S. officials accidental its stockpile has been dramatically reduced implicit the people of the war, present successful its seventh month.

At a briefing connected Friday, U.S. quality officials cited Russia’s increasing reliance connected Iran and North Korea arsenic grounds of the interaction of sanctions and export controls imposed by Western countries successful the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.

In a presumption to reporters, officials from the bureau of the Director of National Intelligence said Russia has mislaid much than 6,000 pieces of instrumentality since the commencement of the war, and was “expending munitions astatine an unsustainable rate.”

Blocked by sanctions from obtaining Western electronics, Russia is “turning to countries similar Iran and North Korea for supplies and equipment,” including drones, artillery munitions and rockets, the presumption stated.