Tel Aviv: The military cooperation between Russia and Iran have reached new heights but the west is helpless in face of this very worrying situation, according to Israeli defence sources.
According to Iran International, the website operated from London by the opposition to the regime in Tehran, Iran denounced the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit statement warning Iran against sending ballistic missiles to Russia, calling it “entirely baseless and politically motivated.”
“Linking the Ukraine conflict to Iran-Russia cooperation is a politically motivated move aimed at justifying Western intervention and continued military aid to Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani stated on July 11.
According to the website, NATO leaders issued a stern warning to Iran on Wednesday, cautioning against the transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia, labelling it a significant “escalation” in Tehran’s support for Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The alliance between Iran and Russia has strengthened due to the Ukraine conflict which has prompted extensive global sanctions on both Iran and Russia. Iran has supplied Russia with hundreds of kamikaze drones, and unofficial reports suggest Tehran may be contemplating further assistance with missiles.
In February, Reuters reported that Iran had supplied Russia with “a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.” UK defence secretary Grant Shapps later echoed this claim, indicating he had such information but withheld details.
Although Iran denied providing the weapons and the US could not confirm the transfers, it assumed Tehran intended to supply missiles to Moscow.
Recent satellite imagery published by Reuters showed significant expansions at two key Iranian ballistic missile facilities, which researchers believe are aimed at boosting missile production with sources indicating missile components would be sold to Russia. The Russian arsenal of ballistic missiles dwindled due to their heavy use in Ukraine and Iran suggested to fill the stocks.
As per Iran Watch website, Iran’s missile arsenal is the largest and most diverse in the Middle East. In 2022, US Central Command’s General Kenneth McKenzie stated that Iran possesses “over 3,000” ballistic missiles. This does not include the country’s burgeoning land-attack cruise missile force.
Over the past decade, Iran has made substantial improvements in the precision and accuracy of its missiles, which make them an increasingly potent conventional threat. The focus on precision and accuracy has been accompanied by a self-imposed missile-range limit of 2,000 km, first publicly acknowledged in 2015.
Iran could, however, abandon the limit at any time, and indeed has deployed a system, the Khorramshahr, that could almost certainly reach longer ranges if equipped with a lighter warhead. Finally, despite an early reliance on liquid-fuelled missiles, Iran has since placed a greater emphasis on developing solid-propellant missiles. This trend will likely continue.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
