A week ago, satellite imagery shared reveals a Russian cargo ship that may have been carrying Iranian ballistic missiles for Moscow's war against Ukraine.
Maxar Technologies recognized the ship—the Port Olya 3—from satellite photos that were taken at Port Olya in Astrakhan on September 4. Ship tracking data indicates that the ship was last seen in the Iranian port of Amirabad on August 29. At some point after that, it turned off its transponder.
The Russian Ministry of Defense had "used the vessel Port Olya-3 to transport CRBMs from Iran to Russia," according to an assessment released by the US Treasury department on Tuesday.
"Russia received the first shipment of CBRMs (close-range ballistic missiles) from Iran as of early September 2024," the Treasury stated when announcing sanctions against the Port Olya 3, several other vessels, and several Iranian nationals.
Last weekend that Iran has significantly increased its support for Russia by sending short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the conflict with Ukraine.
Russia and Iran have strengthened their military ties since the invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. Russia received thousands of "Shahed" attack drones from Iran, and US officials claim that Iran established a drone factory in Russia.
The satellite images first appeared the day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in London on Tuesday that the US thought the Russian military had received shipments of Iranian-made Fatah-360 ballistic missiles and that they "will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians."
The Fateh-360 can carry 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of cargo and has a range of up to 75 miles (120 kilometers). It would be helpful to target Ukrainian frontline positions from a considerable distance, and since it is a ballistic missile, it would be much more difficult to intercept, even though the payload is less than that of many Russian aerial bombs.
"Russian forces will likely use the Iranian-supplied missiles to target Ukrainian energy, military, and civilian infrastructure in the coming months," according to an assessment made by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
"Once again, US and E3 (UK, France, and Germany) act on faulty intelligence and flawed logic, Iran has NOT delivered ballistic missiles to Russia," wrote Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a post on X, refuting claims that the Islamic Republic had given Russia ballistic missiles. Exactly.
The Iranian charge d'affaires, Shahriar Amouzegar, was called by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry this week in response to rumors that ballistic missiles were being shipped to Russia. If the reports were accurate, Amouzegar faced "devastating and irreparable consequences" for relations between Iran and Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials on Wednesday, but they declined to comment further.
Iran has moved weapons from the Caspian Sea ports of Amirabad and Anzali to Astrakhan in the past, according to the Washington-based think tank ISW. This year, the Port Olya 3 has documented twelve visits to the two Iranian ports. It departed the Russian port on September 6th, heading out on another journey.
Washington had "warned Iran privately that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation," according to Blinken's Tuesday statement.
He claimed that the Fateh-360, whose supply "enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are farther from the front line, while dedicating the new missiles it is receiving from Iran for closer range targets," had been taught to scores of Russian military personnel in Iran.
According to US officials, Russian negotiations to purchase the close-range ballistic missiles from Iran started as early as September of last year, when Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Iran to inspect the Ababil close-range ballistic missile systems owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Russia, on the other hand, is lending Iran the technology it wants. This is a two-way street, Blinken said on Tuesday, "including on nuclear issues and some space information."
It remains to be seen if the United States and its European allies will be persuaded to loosen the restrictions on the Ukrainians' ability to use their missiles against more targets in Russia by Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles that can be fired from within Russia against targets in Ukraine.
Ukraine has occasionally used US-made HIMARS missiles against targets located 60 to 80 kilometers inside of Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has repeatedly asked Kyiv's allies for more leeway when it comes to deploying Western missiles against Russian targets.
When US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet in Washington on Friday, the subject is probably going to come up.
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