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[global times special correspondent liu yupeng zhenxiang] despite iran's repeated denials, the united states, britain, germany and france announced on the 10th that they would impose new sanctions on iran for "iran providing missiles to russia". the united states designated iran airlines and other iranian companies and individuals as targets of sanctions, and the three european countries announced the cancellation of bilateral air service agreements with iran. britain said that as part of the sanctions, britain has terminated all direct flights between britain and iran. iran has repeatedly denied the us accusations in recent days, calling it "ugly propaganda." on the one hand, ukraine criticized iran and said it was considering breaking off diplomatic relations with the country; on the other hand, some ukrainian officials saw factors that were "beneficial to ukraine." some analysts believe that the us accusations will open the green light for allowing ukraine to use western long-range weapons to attack russia's deep areas. when asked about related issues on the 10th, us president biden said that he was "studying" the issue of allowing ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike russia's deep territory. the british broadcasting corporation (bbc) believes that biden is hinting that restrictions on the use of western weapons on ukraine will be lifted.

the united states "confirmed for the first time"

cnn and the wall street journal and other us media recently published reports, citing sources saying that "iran has transferred missiles to russia." on the 6th, us national security council deputy spokesperson savit "warned" that any transfer of missiles by iran would mean a "substantial escalation" of iran's support for russia in the russia-ukraine conflict. although kirby, spokesman for the us national security council and strategic communications coordinator, said at a press conference in washington on the 9th that it was impossible to confirm whether the "transfer" mentioned in the relevant reports had occurred, stano, chief spokesman for the european union's foreign affairs and security policy, claimed on the same day that the eu had received "credible news" from its allies that iran had transferred missiles.

on the 10th local time, us secretary of state blinken attended a press conference in london with british foreign secretary lamy and formally made accusations against iran. blinken said that russia has received ballistic missiles from iran and "will most likely use them in ukraine within weeks." according to the british "guardian", blinken said that the missiles provided by iran to russia belong to the relatively new fath-360 (bm-120) model, not long-range weapons. the missile has a maximum range of 120 kilometers, can carry a 150-kilogram warhead, and can be launched at a speed of up to mach 3 (three times the speed of sound, 3,680 kilometers per hour); dozens of russian military personnel have been trained in iran to use the missile. ukraine claims that more than 200 fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles have been sent to russia's caspian sea ports.

reuters reported on the 11th that military experts believe that russia has its own ballistic missiles, but with this batch of fath-360, russia can use iranian missiles to attack closer targets, so that it has more room to use its own weapons to attack targets outside the front line.

the guardian said that the united states confirmed the news for the first time, which is considered to be of great significance to the battlefield balance before the difficult winter in ukraine. the newspaper commented that this move may also bring "pressure" to the united states, forcing it to end its restrictions on ukraine's use of the "storm shadow" missiles provided by the united kingdom to strike targets in russia (not just the occupied areas of ukraine). "with the tacit support of the united kingdom, ukraine has been urging the united states to change its policy."

the ukrainian independent news agency reported on the 11th that ukrainian military expert alexander musyanko believes that russia has lost a lot of missiles in the war with ukraine and they need to make up for the loss. chernev, deputy chairman of the national security, defense and intelligence committee of the ukrainian verkhovna rada (parliament), said that iran's provision of ballistic missiles to russia could be a "trigger that is beneficial to the ukrainian issue." he said: "first and foremost, this can prompt allies to provide us with air defense systems so that we can shoot down iranian missiles. second, this could be a signal that can be seen as russia escalating the conflict. in response, we will be allowed to strike deep into russian territory with western long-range weapons."

ukraine threatens to sever ties with iran

since the us media "leaked the news", iran has repeatedly denied the relevant reports. the iranian permanent mission to the united nations emphasized in a statement on the 6th: "iran not only does not take such actions itself, but also calls on other countries to stop providing weapons to the conflicting parties." fazlullah nozari, a senior commander of the islamic revolutionary guard corps of iran, once again denied the us media's claims in an interview with the iranian labor news agency on the 9th, believing that such reports are a kind of "psychological warfare" and that "iran does not support either side in the conflict between russia and ukraine."

tass said on the 11th that russia and iran have repeatedly denied that russia has received iranian weapons and used them in ukraine. iranian foreign ministry spokesman nasser kanani issued a statement on the social media platform x on the evening of the 10th, saying: "spreading false and misleading news about our country providing weapons to certain countries is nothing but disgusting slander and lies, the purpose of which is to cover up the illegal military support provided by the united states and other western countries to the ongoing genocide in the gaza strip (israel against palestinians). "kanani also responded to the latest sanctions imposed by britain, france and germany on iran: "the actions of these three european countries are a continuation of the hostile policies and economic terrorism of western countries against the iranian people. the islamic republic of iran will take appropriate and proportionate actions against this."

later in the evening of the 9th, the ukrainian ministry of foreign affairs announced through the social media "telegram" that ukraine had summoned iran's acting ambassador to ukraine amuzegal and warned in a "severe form" that if the missile transfer was confirmed, it would have "devastating and irreversible consequences" for the relations between the two countries.

reuters reported on the 10th that ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman tikhonov said on the same day that if iran did provide ballistic missiles to russia and they were used, ukraine would take corresponding measures, including severing diplomatic relations with iran. he said: "i will not specify the exact meaning of the devastating consequences so as not to weaken the diplomatic position, but all options are under consideration, including the (severance of diplomatic relations) option, which is on the table." according to reports, ukraine had downgraded its diplomatic relations with iran in 2022 because "iran provided russia with attack drones."

russia: no basis for this

according to the russian newspaper izvestia on the 11th, russian president's press secretary peskov said at a press conference that day that the claim that iran supplied missiles to russia was unfounded. "we have heard a lot of judgments about (other countries) providing certain weapons to russia, and they have no basis. we are developing relations with many countries. we cooperate in various fields and will continue this cooperation." peskov stressed that the russian armed forces have a complete arsenal and can continue to carry out special military operations.

the guardian said that the new sanctions imposed by the united states and europe on iran have apparently closed the prospect of reconciliation between iran's new reformist government and the west. on the 11th, the new iranian president pezhak ziyan, who took office in july, chose iraq for his first visit. agence france-presse said that pezhak ziyan vowed to make relations with neighboring countries a priority in order to seek to mitigate the impact of us sanctions on iran's economy.