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[text/observer network chen sijia] according to a reuters report on september 10, us secretary of state blinken accused iran of providing short-range ballistic missiles to russia, saying that these missiles may be used by russia to attack ukraine in the near future. the us treasury department immediately announced a new round of sanctions against iran, freezing the assets in the us of iranian companies and officials who "participated in providing weapons to russia."

iranian foreign ministry spokesman nasser kanani denied the us government's accusations, reiterated iran's position that it does not support providing military assistance to any party in the russia-ukraine conflict, and accused western countries of trying to cover up their support for israel's war crimes with "false accusations."

blinken said at a joint press conference with british foreign secretary lamy on the 10th that the us government had privately warned iran that providing ballistic missiles to russia would lead to a "dramatic escalation of the situation", but russia has now received missiles from iran, "russia may use these missiles in ukraine within a few weeks to attack ukraine."

the u.s. treasury department later issued a statement saying that it had confirmed that nine russian-flagged ships were involved in transporting weapons from iran to russia, and these ships would be listed as "frozen assets." the u.s. government also imposed sanctions on nine entities and 10 individuals in iran and russia, freezing any u.s. assets they hold and prohibiting them from entering the united states.

the u.s. treasury department also said it would take additional measures against iran air and other companies and individuals involved in military cooperation that have already been sanctioned. the u.s. state department accused iran air of helping the iranian government "procure sensitive western goods" and "transport sensitive materials" for iran's drone program.

in addition, france, germany and the united kingdom also announced new sanctions against iran on the grounds that "iran provided ballistic missiles to russia." in a joint statement, the three countries said they would cancel the aviation service agreement with iran and plan to impose sanctions on iran airlines and other iranian companies that provided weapons to russia.

andrei yermak, head of the ukrainian presidential office, welcomed the sanctions imposed by western countries, calling it a "positive step". but he declared that it was not enough to impose sanctions on iran alone, "we also need to obtain authorization to use western weapons to attack military targets on russian territory, obtain more long-range missiles and strengthen our air defense systems."

ukraine also said that if russia uses iranian missiles to attack ukraine, kiev's relations with tehran will face "devastating consequences." when asked whether it would sever diplomatic relations with iran, ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman tikshi said: "in order not to weaken our diplomatic position, i will not specify what the 'devastating consequences' are now. but i can say that all options are under consideration."

but iran firmly denies providing ballistic missiles to russia. iran's permanent mission to the united nations said on the 6th: "iran's position on the russia-ukraine conflict has not changed. iran believes that providing military support to any party in the conflict, which leads to increased casualties, damage to infrastructure, and setbacks in ceasefire negotiations, is an inhumane act. iran not only does not participate in such actions, but also calls on other countries to stop providing weapons to the parties to the conflict."

according to the islamic republic news agency of iran, regarding the new sanctions imposed by western countries, iranian foreign ministry spokesman kanani reiterated iran's position on the 10th, saying that any claim that "iran provides ballistic missiles to russia" is groundless. he believes that these "false accusations" are intended to divert attention and cover up western countries' support for israel's war crimes in the gaza strip.

russian president's press secretary peskov also said on the 9th that russia has seen reports in western media about "iran providing missiles to russia", but not all such reports are true. he said that iran is an important partner of russia, and the two countries are developing economic and trade relations and will develop cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas.

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