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Russia Calls Iran ‘Our Important Partner’ Amid Reports of Missile Transfer
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with Russian Security Council’s Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 5, 2024. Photo: Iran’s Presidency/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Russia on Monday called Iran “our important partner” while failing to explicitly deny reports that it received short-range ballistic missiles from Tehran to use in its war against Ukraine.
The comments were the latest indication of increased coordination between Moscow and Tehran, a burgeoning partnership that has alarmed Western countries including the US.
CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Iran had transferred the missiles to Russia, as Moscow continues to wage war in Ukraine after its 2022 invasion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said of the reports that “this kind of information is not true every time.” However, he quickly touted Russia’s relationship with Iran and said the relationship would continue to grow.
“Iran is our important partner,” he told reporters. “We are developing our trade and economic relations. We are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones, and will continue to do so in the interests of the peoples of our two countries.”
Meanwhile, Iranian officials adamantly denied reports of supplying Russia with missiles.
“We strongly reject allegations about Iran’s role in sending weapons to one side of the war and we assess these allegations as politically motivated by some parties,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference.
Separately, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an internationally designated terrorist organization, refuted the reports.
“No missile was sent to Russia and this claim is a kind of psychological warfare,” Fazlollah Nozari was quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency as saying. “Iran does not support any of the parties to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.”
Despite the denials, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had summoned a senior Iranian diplomat to warn of “devastating and irreparable consequences” for bilateral relations if the missile reports were correct.
“Iran must completely and definitively stop providing weapons to Russia in order to prove with actions, not words, the sincerity of its political leadership’s statements about non-involvement in fueling the Russian war machine of death,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
US officials expressed alarm over the idea of Iran supplying Russia with missiles.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” the White House said.
CIA Director William Burns warned of the growing and “troubling” defense relationship between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea while speaking at a public event in London over the weekend. He said their increased coordination and cooperation threatened not only Ukraine but also Western allies in the Middle East.
The European Union (EU) described as “credible” information provided by allies indicating Iran has supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to help Moscow wage war in Ukraine.
“We are aware of the credible information provided by allies on the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said. “We are looking further into it with our member states and, if confirmed, this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Stano added that the EU “will respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners, including with new and significant restrictive measures against Iran.”
Western and Ukrainian officials have dismissed denials of Iranian weapons transfers in the past. Russia has been receiving Iranian-made Shahed drones since 2022 and using them against Ukraine, according to analysts and government officials.
Reuters and other media outlets also reported earlier this year that Iran sent ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, indicating the latest reported missile transfer wasn’t the first.
Warming ties between Moscow and Tehran have extended beyond military matters. For the past two years, Iran and Russia have been working on a major comprehensive bilateral agreement to strengthen cooperation in a wide array of areas. Officials from both countries have said in recent months that the deal will be signed in the near future without elaborating.
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France Won’t Hesitate to Restore UN Sanctions on Iran if No Nuclear Deal, Says Foreign Minister
France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a stakeout outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, April 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
France will not think twice about reimposing United Nations sanctions on Iran if negotiations to reach a deal over its nuclear program do not succeed, its foreign minister told the UN Security Council late on Monday.
France, Britain, and Germany – the “E3” – are parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that expires in October and have the power to initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the Security Council.
“It goes without saying that when the Iranian nuclear deal expires in a few weeks, if European security interests are not guaranteed, we will not hesitate for a single second to reapply all the sanctions that were lifted 10 years ago,” Jean-Noel Barrot said.
Iran and the United States, which quit the 2015 deal and reimposed its own sanctions, have been holding talks on the decades-old standoff.
US President Donald Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran‘s path to a nuclear bomb, although Iran says its program is purely civilian.
According to diplomats, the E3 countries are now looking to trigger snapback by August, rather than June, if no substantial deal can be found by then. The opportunity expires on Oct. 18.
“These sanctions would then permanently close off Iranian access to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country’s economy. This is not what we want, and that is why I solemnly call on Iran to take the necessary decisions today to avoid the worst,” Barrot said.
Iran has proposed meeting the E3, possibly in Rome this Friday, if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that the E3 have yet to respond.
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US Targets China, Iran-Based Firms in Fresh Iran Sanctions
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, Jan. 20, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a network based in Iran and China that it accused of procuring ballistic missile propellant ingredients on behalf of Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to increase pressure on Tehran.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it was targeting six entities and six individuals as part of the action, which comes as the Trump administration has relaunched negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
“Iran‘s aggressive development of missiles and other weapons capabilities imperils the safety of the United States and our partners,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“It also destabilizes the Middle East, and violates the global agreements intended to prevent the proliferation of these technologies. To achieve peace through strength, Treasury will continue to take all available measures to deprive Iran‘s access to resources necessary to advance its missile program.”
Tuesday’s move targeted five China–based companies, one Iran–based firm, and six Iran–based people. The Treasury accused the network of facilitating the procurement of sodium perchlorate and dioctyl sebacate from China to Iran.
It said sodium perchlorate is used to produce ammonium perchlorate, which alongside dioctyl sebacate is usable in solid propellant rocket motors, which Treasury said is commonly used for ballistic missiles.
Tuesday’s move is the latest action targeting Tehran since Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero to help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
In his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed temporary limits on Tehran’s uranium enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping U. sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program. Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian power purposes.
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More Than a Dozen Killed in Sectarian Clashes Near Syrian Capital
A member of the Syrian security forces stands next to a vehicle at the entrance of Druze town of Jaramana, following deadly clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad which angered Sunni gunmen, as rescuers and security sources say, in southeast of Damascus, Syria, April 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar
More than a dozen people were killed in a predominantly Druze town near the Syrian capital on Tuesday in clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad which angered Sunni gunmen, rescuers and security sources said.
The fighting marked the latest episode of deadly sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minorities have been swelling since Islamist-led rebels ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad from power in December, installing their own government and security forces.
Those fears spiked after the killings of hundreds of Alawites in March in apparent revenge for an attack by Assad loyalists.
The clashes began overnight when gunmen from the nearby town of Maliha and other predominantly Sunni areas converged on the mostly Druze town of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, security sources said.
The fighting, with small and medium arms fire, left 13 people dead, according to local rescue workers.
Among the dead were two members of Syria’s General Security Service, a new security force comprised mostly of former rebels, according to interior ministry spokesperson Mustafa al-Abdo.
Abdo denied that armed gunmen had attacked the town, saying instead that groups of civilians angered by the voice recording had staged a protest that came under fire from Druze groups.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement it was investigating the origin of the voice recording and called for calm, urging citizens not to let emotions lead to violence or damage to public property.
Druze elders met with security forces in a bid to prevent further escalation, a Syrian security source said.
“What was said by a few individuals against our Prophet represents only them and is rejected by us and all of society,” Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said, calling on both communities to reject efforts to fuel sectarian divisions.
Syria’s nearly 14-year war carved the country into various zones of influence, with the Druze – an Arab minority who practice a religion originally derived from Islam – arming themselves to defend their own towns.
The new Islamist-led leadership in Damascus has called for all arms to fall under their authority, but Druze fighters have resisted, saying Damascus has failed to guarantee their protection from hostile militants.
Community leaders blamed the government for failing to prevent Tuesday’s attack and warned that it would bear responsibility for any future repercussions.
“The authorities are responsible for preserving security,” Rabei Munzir, a local Druze activist in Jaramana, told Reuters.
Neighboring Israel has said that it was willing to intervene in Syria to protect the Druze, thousands of whom also live in Israel.
The post More Than a Dozen Killed in Sectarian Clashes Near Syrian Capital first appeared on Algemeiner.com.