The Moscow-Tehran partnership: is Iran providing Russia with missiles?

It is often said that true friends are revealed in difficult times. This seems to be the case for Russia and Iran, as they increasingly face isolation from the West and appear to be establishing a mutually beneficial partnership.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, helping Moscow in its ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

European Union officials backed the claim, warning that sanctions would follow suit if the missile deliveries were confirmed.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov affirmed that while he has seen the report, not all such reports were correct.

More concerning, Peskov highlighted that Russia and Iran are partners and are currently developing dialogue in many areas.

“Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones,” Peskov told reporters.

According to Al Jazeera, Moscow and Tehran have grown closer since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Among other things, it has been proven that Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drones.

However, Iranian government officials have denied supplying weapons to any sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

“No missile was sent to Russia and this claim is a kind of psychological warfare,” Brigadier Fazlollah Nozari, a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency and cited by Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera writes that a NATO spokesperson has also stated that that media reports could not be verified.

“As Allies have stated previously, any transfer of ballistic missiles and related technology by Iran to Russia would represent a substantial escalation,” a NATO spokesperson said, per Al Jazeera.

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