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The United States of America has once again expressed concern about reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran “plans” to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia.
On Monday, August 22, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel, while expressing Washington’s deep concern about the issue, said: “We remain in touch with our European partners and allies on the actions we may take.”
He noted that the United States has repeatedly warned against expanding the security partnership between the Russian and Iranian governments since Putin’s forces began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The US State Department deputy spokesman added: “This partnership threatens Europe’s security and demonstrates how its destabilizing influence can be [حکومت] “Iran’s influence extends beyond the Middle East and the world.”
In recent days, following Reuters’ disclosure that dozens of Russian soldiers were training in Iran to use the Fateh-360 short-range ballistic missile system, the White House issued a statement emphasizing that “Iran’s destabilizing influence has spread beyond Iran. The Middle East and around the world.”
“Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States has repeatedly warned of deepening security cooperation between Russia and Iran,” the White House added, while announcing that it could not confirm the Reuters report. “Such cooperation threatens Europe’s security and demonstrates that Iran’s destabilizing influence has spread beyond the Middle East and around the world.”
The White House added in its statement: “As we and our colleagues made clear to the world at the G7 and NATO summits this summer, we are prepared to respond swiftly if the Islamic Republic seeks to continue transferring arms to Russia.”
“During his campaign, Maditian claimed he wanted to moderate Iran’s policies and engage with the world,” the White House statement said. “Destabilizing actions like this contradict those claims.”
Hundreds of these satellite-guided missiles are expected to be delivered to Russia soon for use in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
European intelligence sources told Reuters that on December 13, representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with Iranian officials in Tehran to purchase the Fateh-360 missile system and another missile system called “Abil”.
According to these sources, Russian personnel have traveled to Iran to receive training on how to use the Fatah-360 defense system, which fires missiles with a maximum range of 120 kilometers and a 150-kilogram warhead.
Iranian media described the missile as follows: “Fath 360 is a missile with a length of 5175 mm, a diameter of 368 mm, a total mass of 787 kg, of which 150 kg is the warhead, and a solid fuel propellant that gives it a speed of 4 times the speed of sound or Mach 4.”
Khabar Online said of the missile: “The storage life of this missile is very good, estimated to be at least 10 years, with an error of less than 30 meters. Its minimum and maximum ranges are 30 and 120 kilometers respectively, which makes it a strong alternative to the Nazaat rocket, which has become a strong competitor to the Fajr 5 series of guided rockets. Equipped with a rock-destroying warhead and a combined optical guidance system, this missile has strong resistance in electronic warfare environments and destroys the target without damaging it.”
One source told Reuters that “the only possible next step” after the training was the actual delivery of the missiles to Russia.
Moscow has ballistic missiles of its own, but the provision of the Fateh-360 would allow Russia to use its arsenal against long-range targets while using Iranian warheads against shorter-range targets.
It should be noted that since Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, the Islamic Republic has provided Moscow with thousands of Shahid-136 suicide drones.
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