WASHINGTON (Agencies): Iran has sent close-range ballistic missiles to Russia, which could start using them to attack Ukraine “within weeks,” Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
The missiles can reach a maximum of 75 miles and allow Russia to maintain its stocks of more valuable, and more menacing, long-range fires, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
While Russia hasn’t yet used them, Ryder said dozens of its military personnel have trained inside Iran on the missile system — known as the Fath 360. Ryder wouldn’t specify how many Russia has received, but the U.S. Treasury Department said that Moscow signed a contract late last year for “hundreds” of missiles, with the first such batch now arriving.
“This is a deeply concerning development,” Ryder said during a Tuesday briefing.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Russia has relied on its partners — in almost all cases other U.S. adversaries — to refill its stocks. Iran has been a particularly avid supplier, shipping one-way attack drones, missiles and other lethal aid to Russia throughout the war.
In return, Russia is sharing other information with Iran, including on nuclear and space technology, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.