Iran on Tuesday vowed to respond to fresh sanctions imposed by Britain, France and Germany over what they said was its supply of short-range missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.
“This action of the three European countries is the continuation of the hostile policy of the West and economic terrorism against the people of Iran, which will face the appropriate and proportionate action of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
The three governments had announced they would take steps to cancel air services agreements with Iran and “work towards imposing sanctions on Iran Air.”
Photo: AFP
“In addition, we will pursue the designations of significant entities and individuals involved with Iran’s ballistic missile program, and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia,” they said.
Iran denied it had delivered any weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
“Any claim that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sold ballistic missiles to the Russian Federation is completely baseless and false,” Kanani said.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Russia had received shipments of ballistic missiles from Iran and “will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine.”
He added that dozens of Russian military personnel have received training in Iran on using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 120km.
Blinken yesterday was on his way to Ukraine, where he and other diplomats were to discuss further easing rules on firing Western weapons into Russia.
Blinken took a train from Poland to Kyiv alongside British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy, whose two-month-old Labour government has vowed to keep up Britain’s role as a key defender of Ukraine.
The visit comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ramps up requests to the West to provide weapons with more firepower and fewer restrictions.
US President Joe Biden, asked in Washington whether he would let Ukraine use longer-range weapons, said: “We’re working that out right now.”
Blinken, speaking on Tuesday in London alongside Lammy, said that the US was committed to providing Ukraine “what they need when they need it to be most effective in dealing with the Russian aggression.”
However, Blinken said it was also important to see if Ukrainian forces could maintain and operate particular weaponry.
Asked later in an interview with Sky News whether the US would green-light long-range weapons, Blinken said: “We never rule out, but when we rule in, we want to make sure it’s done in such a way that it can advance what the Ukrainians are trying to achieve.”
British media reported that Biden, who is scheduled to meets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tomorrow, was set to end objections to letting Ukraine fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.
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