Iran agrees to provide drones and missiles to Russia
According to US and Iranian security sources, Iran has increased its commitment to providing weapons for Russia’s assault on Ukraine by offering to give a batch of medium-range missiles as well as significant numbers of inexpensive but efficient drones.
In an effort to gradually damage Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure before a harsh winter, the surface-to-surface missiles are intended to augment the critically depleted stock of Russian missiles.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence minister, made a last-minute flight to Washington to discuss the perilous new stage of the conflict, to provide information on Iran’s involvement, and to consider what package of additional air defence may be offered to Ukraine to assist the country in fending off the attacks.
The Iranian sale of missiles to Russia came about as a result of several meetings, including those held in Moscow on September 18 and October 6 when Mohammad Mokhber, Iran’s first vice president, along with two powerful Revolutionary Guards officials and a representative of the Supreme National Security Council, travelled there.
“The Russians had asked for additional drones and those Iranian ballistic missiles with greater accuracy, particularly the Fateh and Zolfaghar missile family,” an Iranian official informed on the October trip was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Iran agrees to provide drones and missiles to Russia
The two short-range missiles can reach targets at respective ranges of 700 km (435 miles) and 300 km (185 miles) away.
Iran denied providing drones to Russia once more on Tuesday and called for negotiations with Ukraine to “resolve” the allegations. Tehran claims, however, that since the limitations on arms sales stipulated in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal expires in 2020, it is well within its rights to sell arms overseas. Sales of missiles, according to the US, France, and the UK, would violate the nuclear agreement.
Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, declared on Tuesday that he had advised his country to sever all diplomatic ties with Iran because Ukraine would not stand for Iran’s “meanness and lying” on the matter.
The White House has bluntly charged Iran with lying concerning the sale of drones, but has been more cautious regarding the sale of missiles. According to representatives of the West, hundreds of drones have been given and are currently being deployed to obliterate Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure.
Instagram post claims that a missing Iranian climber accidentally dropped her headscarf. Ukrainian intelligence claims that 1,750 drones, each of which only costs £20,000 to produce, have already been delivered. They can be shot from moving trucks, and despite moving slowly, they are difficult to spot until the very last second.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, claimed last week that Russia was attempting to buy 2,400 drones from Iran.
When Vladimir Putin met the newly elected Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran in June, it was the first evidence that the Iranian-Russian alliance was strengthening. On September 16, when they reconvened at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, they disclosed that they were nearing completion of a new treaty addressing commerce and security.
Any western conclusion that Iran is providing medium-range missiles would be a highly risky move on Iran’s part, as western officials are already beginning to feel intense political pressure to end negotiations with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal due to the suppression of student and women’s protests in the streets.
The Iranian negotiations are essentially on hold until after the US midterm elections, but even then Joe Biden won’t be able to rally support for a new agreement as long as Iranian-made rockets continue destroying Ukrainian cities.
While many in the current Iranian leadership want to abandon any pretence of improving relations with the west and instead forge a long-term strategic alliance with Russia and China, the west has operated under the assumption that Iran wants to keep those negotiations going and result in the lifting of crippling western sanctions.
The GPS-guided Iranian Shahed 136 drones, which are launched from trucks outside of Ukraine, may travel up to 1,600 miles. They have grown to be a significant and expensive concern for Ukrainian air defence, relocating some of its systems from the front lines in the east because to their low cost and huge numbers.
Small weapons, Stinger missiles, GPS jammers, anti-aircraft artillery, and the German-supplied IRIS-T air defence systems can all be used to battle them. Many colleagues are “looking at what the ideal package may be to bolster the Ukrainian air defences,” a western official claimed.
According to former US general Mark Hertling, “there is not enough air defence in the world to create a shield to prevent Russian missiles and drones going into the country given the size of the nation of Ukraine and the infrastructure and military activity that you want to defend.”
“The lawnmower buzzes roughly 1,000 feet overhead before you notice the drones since they have a tiny radar signal. They are approaching from numerous angles.
They do, however, fly fairly slowly, making them far more vulnerable to being shot down by other systems and small weapons. They have been employed in large numbers in the hopes that some may succeed.
In a meeting with Iranian diplomats on October 3, the UK brought up the issue of Iranian drones, and UK officials said they are considering a number of strong reactions, possibly including a new UN security council resolution and more penalties.
One of the topics of conversation between US officials, Wallace, and UK foreign secretary James Cleverly is probably a formal suspension of the Iran nuclear deal negotiations.
By mid-November, when the majority of field manoeuvres will be rendered impossible by the rains, Western authorities forecast that the nature of the battle will have drastically changed.
However, given the indications that Russia is beginning a partial withdrawal of civilians from the city, they anticipate seeing more progress in the southern region surrounding the city of Kherson before that deadline.
