Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made the announcement in London, where his British counterpart also promised more penalties on Iran. They plan to visit Ukraine together.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken accused Iran on Tuesday of shipping short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine and said that the Biden administration would impose more sanctions against Tehran. The penalties would include measures against Iran Air, the country’s main airline, he said.
Russia is likely to use the missiles “within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians,” Mr. Blinken said at a news conference with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy. He added that the United States had shared intelligence in recent days with its allies on the missiles, which have a range of 75 miles.
That supply from Iran would allow Russia to deploy some of its longer-range missiles against deeper targets in Ukraine rather than using them for short-range attacks, Mr. Blinken said.
Mr. Blinken’s remarks were the first public comments by a U.S. or allied official on the missile aid from Iran.
“This is a troubling pattern that we’re seeing from Iran,” Mr. Lammy said in answering a reporter’s question. “It is definitely a significant escalation.”
The two diplomats also said they would make a joint visit to Ukraine this week as a show of solidarity, the first such wartime visit done by the United States and an allied nation.
”I think it’s a good moment for Ukraine in the middle of what is an intense fall fighting season,” Mr. Blinken said. The top diplomats plan to make the visit on Wednesday, before Mr. Blinken holds a meeting in Poland on Thursday.
Mr. Lammy suggested that Britain would announce further sanctions on Iran to punish it for the missile shipments. He said he and Mr. Blinken had discussed “our shared commitment to to holding Iran to account for their undermining of global stability.”
For years, and across both Republican and Democratic administrations, the United States has imposed harsh sanctions on Iran for its range of military activities in the Middle East, but those punishments have done little to deter hostile actions by the Iranian government.
U.S. and European officials had told journalists on the condition of anonymity in recent days that Iran has sent Russia hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles, despite warnings this year from the United States and allied nations that they would impose additional economic sanctions on Iran if it made that move.
Mark Landler contributed reporting from London.
Share
Print
