London Says Russia Wants Iranian Missiles For Ukraine
The United Kingdom ambassador to the United Nations said Friday that Russia was trying to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles.
The United Kingdom ambassador to the United Nations said Friday that Russia was trying to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles.
Barbara Woodward’s suggestion came two days after two United States spokesmen said Washington had no evidence that Iran had transferred missiles to Russia for the Ukraine war.
These statements followed Associated Press citing un-named officials “familiar with the matter” that Russia was looking to Tehran to replenish stocks of both military drones and surface-to-surface missiles.
Woodward said Iran’s weapons proliferation poses real and significant threat to international community. She added that Britain is concerned that Russia intends to provide Iran with more advanced military components.
With no sign of talks between the US and Russia to end the conflict, and with American officials suggesting any terms are for Ukraine to decide, both sides in the conflict are looking to replenish spent stocks or gain new weapons.
Both have used drones, or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Tehran said early November it had supplied a small number to Russia before the current phase of the Ukraine conflict, beginning February, whereas Ukraine has used US and Turkish drones as well as the Soviet-era UAVs used in this week’s attacks deep inside Russia.
US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday that while Washington was “voicing concerns” that “Russia could look to Iran for ballistic missile technology,” the US had no “information to share at this point regarding current deliveries of ballistic missiles.”
Trudeau said he did not want Canada’s “extraordinary technological innovations” used in “Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, or Iran’s contributions to that.” He argued that Ottawa had “strict export permits in place for sensitive technology” and would work with Tallyman Wireless to “figure out exactly how items that we’re not supposed to get into the hands of anyone like the Iranian government actually ended up there.”
Canada’s arms exports – which before Moscow’s 2014 Crimea annexation included Russia – are regulated by the Export and Import Permits Act, under which there is a list of ‘approved buyers’. In 2021, 66 percent of Canada’s military sales went to the Middle East, with the lion’s share of $1.75 billion bought by Saudi Arabia.
Many parts used in military drones, however, are readily available and often bought online. The presence of Canadian-made antennae in the Shahed-136 drone was asserted last month in an investigation by Statewatch, a group committed to transparency in government.
Trudeau raised the issue with reporters Monday after a report in the Globe and Mail. Statewatch had cited Ukrainian intelligence claiming the Shahed-136 had parts from over 30 European and American companies, mainly from the United States. Ukraine’s attack Monday on two military bases deep inside Russia used Soviet-era drones, the Kremlin said.
Military drones have been deployed by both sides in the Ukraine war, with Ukrainian forces using mainly US and Turkish drones, or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). The increasingly use of drones in conflicts across the world reflects their low cost compared to missiles or jet-planes.
Sanctions, winter
Canada on December 2 sanctioned Baharestan Kish, an Iranian research company, over alleged involvement in supplying drones to Russia. Ottawa had in November sanctioned two Iranian companies on the same grounds, while the US and European Union listed Iranian entities in October.
With temperatures in Kyiv currently minus 5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) and snow looming, there are stories of the infamous Russian winter playing havoc with sophisticated weapons. The Ukrainian military has reported that Moscow has not deployed Shaheed drones since November 17 as they cannot function in freezing temperatures.
Other Ukrainian officials have, however suggested Moscow has simply run out of stocks. Iran in early November acknowledged it had supplied “a small number” of military drones to Russia before the current phase of conflict broke out with Moscow’s ‘special military operation’ in February. There have been mixed signals in recent days over prospects for peace talks between Russia and the US to end the war.
