Iran accused of supplying missiles to Russia via Caspian Sea trade for use in Ukraine war

Tehran has been accused of supplying missiles to Moscow via a now sanctioned ship for use in the war on Ukraine, with new footage claiming to show a Russian ship docked in a Caspian port and carrying such cargo.

CNN this week released satellite imagery taken last week which shows the V Port Olya 3 docked at Port Olya in Astrakhan on 4 September after visiting the Iranian city of Amirabad on 29 August before switching off its transporter.

The US Treasury has accused this ship of being used to deliver a cargo of close-range ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia, and would likely turn the dial regarding Western controls on weapons to Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of obtaining Iranian Fatah-360 ballistic missiles and said Moscow “will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians”, having already acquired Iranian-made HESA Shahed 136 drones - known as Geran-2 in Russian - which have been used to bombard Ukrainian cities and military positions.

The CNN report comes as Washington sanctions the Port Olya 3 and other entities and vessels allegedly involved in supplying Moscow with Iranian missiles.

“As of early September 2024, Russia received the first shipment of CBRMs (close-range ballistic missiles) from Iran,” the US Treasury announced this week.

The New Arab could not independently verify the claims the vessel was carrying any weaponry but there have been numerous reports that Iran has started to export missiles to Russia.

Two-and-a-half years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Moscow has looked to outside suppliers for weaponry due to the depletion of its own supplies, particularly rockets and artillery shells.

A tough sanctions regime on Moscow-linked entities by Washington has led the Russian military to focus on 'pariah suppliers' such as North Korea and Iran.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said this week that the supply of Iranian missiles to Russia would be a "dangerous" development and hinted it could change the West's views on Ukraine's rules of engagement with Moscow.

"As we see the Russians working with their partners, we see this transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia, it is important that we do more to support Ukraine to win in their efforts," he told the BBC.

So far, the West has generally restricted the use of its weaponry outside Ukraine's borders despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging the US and European nations to allow his forces to target facilities deep inside Russia, as the war turns against Kyiv.

Tehran this week strongly denied supplying missiles to Russia and said such Western claims were based on "faulty intelligence".