Russia will likely use Iranian missiles against Ukraine within weeks - White House

Russia has received shipments of Iranian Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles and will likely use them against targets in Ukraine within weeks.

White House National Security Advisor John Kirby said at an online briefing on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Kirby emphasized that this could lead to the deaths of even more Ukrainian civilians, given that Russians fire ballistic missiles at civilian infrastructure. He also said that dozens of Russian military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system.

Kirby also noted that Moscow has its own missile capabilities, but the supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line, including civilian infrastructure.

He said cooperation between Russian and Iran threatened the European security and "demonstrates how Iran's destabilizing influence reaches far beyond the Middle East." 

In this context, he noted that the United States would announce sanctions against both Iran and Russia in response to the supply of Iranian missiles to Russia.

As Ukrinform reported, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Tuesday that Iran had transferred ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.

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