Washington warns Tehran of a "severe" response if it provides ballistic missiles to Russia

Shafaq News/ The United States warned Tehran of a "severe" response if it provides ballistic missiles to Russia.

Earlier, six sources told Reuters that Iran had provided Moscow with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

According to three Iranian sources quoted by Reuters, Iran's provision of around 400 missiles includes many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, such as the Zolfaghar.

The White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Washington cannot confirm this step.

"The Iranians are clearly indicating that they will ship ballistic missiles to Russia, and we have no reason to believe they will not follow through," Kirby pointed out at a virtual briefing with reporters.

The US Spokesperson warned of imposing additional sanctions against Tehran and taking this weapons issue to the UN Security Council.

"We are prepared to go further if Iran sells ballistic missiles to Russia."

Kirby assured that if Iran supplies ballistic missiles to Russia, "the response from the international community will be swift and severe."

An Iranian source revealed to Reuters that the shipments began in early January after a deal was finalized in meetings in Tehran and Moscow late last year between Iranian and Russian military and security officials.

Notably, the UN Security Council restrictions on Iran's export of certain missiles, drones, and other technologies expired in October. However, the United States and the European Union maintained sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program due to concerns about the export of weapons to its proxies in the Middle East and Russia.