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Iran gave Russia missiles but no launchers, sources say
The Kremlin at that time declined to confirm its receipt of the missiles but acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran included “the most sensitive areas.”
Iran did not include mobile launchers with the close-range ballistic missiles that Washington last week accused Tehran of delivering to Russia for use against Ukraine, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported.
The sources – a European diplomat, a European intelligence official and a U.S. official – said it was not clear why Iran did not supply launchers with the Fath-360 missiles, raising questions about when and if the weapons will be operational.
The U.S. official, who like the other sources spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had not delivered the launchers at the time of the U.S. announcement about Iran’s delivery of the weapons. The European intelligence official said without elaborating that they did not expect Iran to provide launchers.
Reuters first reported Iran’s plan to send the missiles to Russia.
Two experts told Reuters there could be several reasons why the launchers were not sent. One is that Russia may plan to modify trucks to carry the missiles, as Iran has done. Another is that by withholding the launchers, Iran is allowing space for new talks with Western powers on easing tensions.
The Russian defense ministry declined to comment.
The U.S. National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles or with thousands of drones that Kyiv and Western officials have said Russia uses against military targets and to destroy civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s electrical grid, read the report.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sept. 10 that Iran had delivered the Fath-360s to Russia and would “likely use them within weeks in Ukraine.”
The missile would pose an additional challenge for Ukraine, which is constantly adapting its air defenses to innovations by Russian forces. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency says the missile travels at four times the speed of sound when approaching targets.
Blinken said the missiles threatened European security and would be fired against short-range targets, allowing Russia to reserve more of its extensive arsenal for targets beyond the front lines. The Fath-360 has a range of up to 75 miles (121 km).
The United States, Germany, Britain and France imposed new sanctions on Iran, and the EU said the bloc was considering fresh measures targeting Iran’s aviation sector.
The Kremlin at that time declined to confirm its receipt of the missiles but acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran included “the most sensitive areas.”
Blinken did not say how many Fath-360s Iran supplied to Russia or when they were sent.
Reuters determined through shipping data that a Russian freighter sanctioned by Washington, the Port Olya-3, made voyages between Iran’s Caspian Sea port of Amirabad and the Russian port of Olya several times between May and Sept. 12.
Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said he could not confirm that Tehran withheld the launchers.
Ballistic missiles require specifically designed launchers in order to be fired.
According to Hinz, one reason Iran didn’t send launchers may be that the civilian trucks that Iran modified to launch these and other missiles are not robust enough to operate in rough terrain during Ukraine’s harsh winter. Iran modifies trucks made by Mercedes and other companies and turns them into easily disguised missile launchers, he said.
That suggests, he continued, that Russia could modify its own military-grade vehicles.
“A commercial, off-the-shelf Mercedes truck is just not that off-road capable,” he said
David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security, also could not say whether Iran delivered the launchers.
But he noted that Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and other Iranian officials will be meeting with European officials on the sidelines of next week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York to test the potential for diplomacy on Tehran’s nuclear program, regional tensions and other disputes, read the report.
“It could be that they (Iran) are holding back the launchers to provide a little space for these talks,” he said. “One can imagine that if there are Iranian missiles raining down (on Ukraine) there would be condemnation at the General Assembly.”
But he was skeptical of any progress, saying he doubted Iran would make the necessary compromises.
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US strikes Iran, Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf states hit
Abbas Araqchi has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement. “There can only be mutual compliance,” he wrote on X on Friday.
The US military launched fresh strikes on Iran after it struck a container ship on Sunday, while Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on US facilities in states across the Gulf, Reuters reported.
A series of attacks between the US and Iran over the past several days led President Donald Trump to declare the end of a ceasefire meant to halt the fighting that the US and Israel began on February 28, though Trump has left the door open to continued negotiations.
Iran said it closed the strait after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel traveling on an unapproved route. It warned that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a “severe response.”
US Central Command, however, said commercial vessels continue to transit through the waterway that carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG shipments before the war.
Central Command said US forces hit 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday, out of more than 300 during three nights of strikes “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”
Iranian state media reported explosions in a number of port cities.
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had destroyed a command and control center and drone hangars at a base in US ally Jordan, targeted a US military radar site in Kuwait, attacked US aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed a fighter jet maintenance centre and command and control facility in Qatar.
The Guards also said they had struck and disabled a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, read the report.
The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems engaged missiles and drones from Iran, while warning sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were heard in Doha.
Tehran’s strikes marked a sharp escalation in pace and targets. In recent weeks, Iran had hit sites in Kuwait and Bahrain while avoiding Qatar since early April and the UAE since early May.
The war has destabilized the Gulf, while Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused energy prices to surge, fuelling global inflation and raising fears of an economic slowdown.
Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
Iran said several ships attempted to move through the waterway on an “unauthorized route” and disregarded warnings to correct their course. The strait will remain closed until “the end of US interference in this region,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement. “There can only be mutual compliance,” he wrote on X on Friday.
On Sunday, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on X: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
The US revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier in the week, prompting the US to hit Iranian sites. Iran then struck US military sites in Gulf states, Reuters reported.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
Araqchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met in Oman to exchange “views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a statement from the Iranian foreign minister. Oman’s state news agency said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks “at the technical and political levels.”
A written statement from Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed in the war’s initial attacks. It said the vengeance would take place whatever happened to Iran.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs,” the message said.
The statement was released to mark funeral ceremonies for the former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday. His son did not attend the ceremonies and has not been seen in public since the war began.
Regional
Iran’s Supreme Leader vows revenge for father’s death
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that avenging his slain predecessor and father was “the demand of the nation” and “must certainly” take place, according to a written message published on the official website of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Khamenei issued the message on the occasion of funeral ceremonies for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held months after he was killed in the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers,” Khamenei said in the message.
“The criminals will take their dream of a peaceful death in bed to the grave with them,” he added.
Mojtaba Khamenei also expressed appreciation for the attendance of tens of millions of mourners from Iran and Iraq.
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