“Again, I cannot corroborate this information,” said Ryder.
“As I have said before, when we see the use of Iranian ballistic missiles on the battlefield in Ukraine, we will do our best to eliminate that.”
He added that the United States is concerned that Russia uses Iranian weapons to target civilians in Ukraine, noting that Moscow and Tehran “clearly” have an established arrangement on the supply of Iranian-made weapons to Russia.
Read also: Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
Ryder also did not confirm Sky News’ report that Russia paid for the Iranian drones in cash and samples of Western weapons seized in Ukraine.
On Oct. 16, The Washington Post reported that Iran has secretly agreed to provide Russia with not just drones, but also with ground-to-ground ballistic missiles for the war against Ukraine.
The head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Russia could start using Iranian short-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine as early as November. Specifically, the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar SRBM missiles. Iran has already transferred Mohajer, Arash-1 and Arash-2, Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 drones to Russia.
Read also: Ukrainian Air Force looking for ways to counter Iranian missiles
CNN earlier reported that Iranian authorities intend to supply Moscow with 1,000 short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles for the war against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia and Iran have agreed on the transfer of 1,000 pieces of military hardware, including both ballistic missiles and more kamikaze drones.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
