White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the United States expects Russia will use the missiles against Ukraine.
Iran is transferring short-range ballistic missiles to Russia after training Moscow’s troops on the system’s use, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
An indeterminate number of the Fath-360 missiles have already been transferred from Iran to Russia, Kirby told reporters during a press call on Sep. 10.
“These are close-range ballistic missiles with a range of about 75 miles,” he said.
“We fully expect that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will use them again inside Ukraine.”
The Biden administration has warned about the possibility of such a transfer occurring for several months.
Those sanctions will augment similar actions being announced the same day by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Kirby said, which will terminate some of Europe’s “lucrative commercial ties with Iran.”
Some of those included are officials in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization.
“Iran has opted to intensify its involvement in Russia’s illegal war, and the United States, along with our partners, will continue to stand with Ukraine,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
Iranian-Russian strategic cooperation has been slowly building over the years but started to peak after U.S.-led economic actions against Moscow went into effect in retribution for the latter’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Russia’s support for Iran is destabilizing as well, as Moscow is sharing technology that Iran needs, including on nuclear issues,” Kirby added on Sept. 10.
Kirby said that a key concern was the possibility Russia could use the short-range Iranian missiles on the front lines in Ukraine, which would free up Moscow’s other, longer-range missiles for attacks deeper into Ukrainian territory.
“Moscow possesses an array of its own ballistic missiles, of course, but the supply of these Iranian missiles … could allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets beyond the frontline while employing Iranian warheads for closer range targets,” Kirby said.
“What’s most relevant is that now Russia will have available to it additional ballistic missiles to rain down on the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian infrastructure.”