Contract Proving Iran's Sale of Ammunition to Russia Leaked to Media
The British media have gained access to an alleged arms contract that could be the first hard evidence that Iran has sold munitions to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
According to Sky News, if this 16-page document, dated 14 September 2022, is authentic, it refers to batches of artillery and tank shells and missiles of various sizes, totalling just over $1 million.
The source provided the TV channel with the document along with five pages of an allegedly related contract containing barrels for T-72 tanks and howitzer barrels, as well as shells for them. The deal was worth around US$740,000.
"This is a contract between the Iranians and the Russians for munitions... We believe it is 100% authentic," a source from the UK security body said.
Sky News showed the documents to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during his visit to the UK in May, as well as to the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Kyiv and London have said they plan to investigate the authenticity of the material and will take action if it is found to be credible.
"We suspected that there's something like that happening," Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, told Sky News.
"When information is presented to us, we will look to assess it and to validate it. And of course, we will make decisions based on that. Where we have evidence that Iran has provided military support to Russia in Russia's attempted invasion of Ukraine we have taken action and we will, of course, always do likewise," James Cleverly said.
Prystaiko also said that the contract, if authentic, proves that Russia is running out of military supplies.
"The fact that they are talking about such simple things as weapons, as ammunition, indicates that the Russian position is really quite complicated," he said.
The Caspian Sea is likely to be one of the main routes from Iran to Russia for Iranian-made attack drones and other support Tehran provides to the Kremlin in connection with the war against Ukraine and Western sanctions.