TEHRAN: Dozens of Russian military personnel are being trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, two European intelligence sources told Reuters, and they expect to send hundreds of the satellite-guided weapons to Russia. Its war in Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry representatives are believed to have signed a deal with Iranian officials in Tehran on December 13 for the Fath-360 and another ballistic missile system called Abbil, manufactured by Iran's state-owned Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO). officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Citing multiple confidential intelligence sources, officials said Russian personnel have visited Iran to learn how to operate the Fath-360 defense system, which launches a missile with a maximum range of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and a 150-kilogram warhead. One source said the “only next possible” step after the training would be the actual delivery of the missiles to Russia.
Moscow has its own array of ballistic missiles, but the supply of Fath-360s could allow Russia to use its weapons for targets beyond the front line, while using Iranian weapons for closer targets, a military expert said.
A spokesman for the US National Security Council said the United States and its NATO allies and G7 partners “are prepared to respond swiftly and severely if Iran proceeds with such a transfer.”
This would “represent a dramatic increase in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,” the spokesman said. “The White House has repeatedly warned of a deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.”
Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York said in a statement that the Islamic Republic has a long-term strategic partnership with Russia in various fields, including military cooperation.
“However, from a moral point of view, Iran refrains from transferring any weapons, including missiles, which could be used in the conflict with Ukraine until it ends,” the statement said.
The White House declined to confirm whether Iran was training Russian soldiers on the Fath-360 or preparing to send the weapon to Russia for use against Ukraine.
The two intelligence sources gave no exact time frame for the expected delivery of the Fath-360 missiles to Russia but said it would be soon. They did not provide any intelligence on the status of the Abible contract.
A third intelligence source at another European agency also said it had information that Russia had sent troops to Iran to train them in the use of Iranian ballistic missile systems, without giving further details.
Such training is standard practice for Iranian weapons supplied to Russia, said the third source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information.
Iran has sold missiles and drones to Russia but has not provided the Fath-360 missile, a senior Iranian official has requested not to be named. Tehran has no legal restrictions on selling such weapons to Russia, the source added.
“Iran and Russia are engaged in mutual purchases of parts and military equipment. How each country uses this equipment is entirely their decision,” the official said, adding that Iran has not sold weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
As part of military cooperation, Iranian and Russian officials often travel between the two states, the official added.
“volatile functions”
So far, Iran's military support for Moscow has been limited mainly to unmanned Shahed attack drones, which carry a fraction of the explosives and are easier to shoot down because they are slower than ballistic missiles.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported in July 2023 that the country's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) ground forces had successfully tested a new training system for the Fath 360.
Justin Bronk, senior research fellow for air power at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based defense think-tank, said: “The delivery of large numbers of short-range ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia would enable further escalation. under pressure on already badly stretched Ukrainian missile defense systems.
“As a ballistic threat, they can be reliably intercepted by the upper tier of Ukrainian systems,” he said, referring to Ukraine's most sophisticated air defenses, such as the U.S.-built Patriot and European SAMP/T systems.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry had no immediate comment.
In March, G7 leaders expressed concern over reports that Iran was considering transferring ballistic missiles to Russia and warned in a statement that they would respond in a coordinated manner with significant measures against Iran.
A spokesman for the NSC noted in response to questions from Reuters that Iran's newly elected President Massoud Pezhekian “has claimed that he wants to moderate Iran's policies and engage with the world. Such destabilizing actions fly in the face of that rhetoric.”
A British government spokesman has expressed deep concern over reports that Russian soldiers are being trained in Iran. “Iran should not proceed with the transfer of ballistic missiles,” he said.
A UN Security Council ban on Iran's export of some missiles, drones and other technology expired in October 2023. However, the United States and the European Union maintained sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program amid concerns about arms exports to the Middle East and its proxies. Russia.
Reuters reported in February on deepening military cooperation between Iran and Russia and Moscow's interest in Iranian surface-to-surface missiles.
Sources told the news agency at the time that about 400 Fateh-110 long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles had been sent. But European intelligence sources told Reuters that as far as they knew, no transfer had taken place.
Ukrainian officials have not publicly reported finding any Iranian missile remnants or debris during the war.
