US State Secretary confirms Iran supplied ballistic missiles to Russia and says sanctions will follow – the WP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Tuesday, 10 September, that Iran will suffer new sanctions after having supplied ballistic missiles for Russia to deploy in strikes on Ukraine.

Antony Blinken in a comment to The Washington Post that the new sanctions against Iran will be announced later on Tuesday and will include sanctions against the Iranian state air carrier, Iran Air.

"We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately, that taking this step would be a dangerous escalation," Blinken said.

"Russia has now received shipments of these missiles," he added.

According to Blinken, Russia will likely deploy these missiles in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials claimed this week that Iran had not supplied weapons to Russia.

Though Iran supplies Russia with attack drones, it has until recently refrained from giving Russia more powerful weapons, perhaps fearing the warnings from the US and Europe that this would trigger a series of sanctions.

On 9 September, the European Union said that according to information from allies, Iran has given ballistic missiles for Russia to deploy in strikes against Ukraine.

The White House National Security Council said that if Iran has supplied or will supply Russia with ballistic missiles, it would be a "dramatic escalation".

On 6 September, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources among American and European officials, that Iran had already supplied Russia with short-range ballistic missiles.