Transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would mean dramatic escalation - US State Department
The transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia would represent a "dramatic escalation" in Russia's war of aggression, and the United States is ready to respond with "significant consequences".
This was stated by US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, Censor.NET reports citing Voice of America.
"Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation of Iran's support for Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine," Patel said, adding that the United States is concerned about reports of Iranian ballistic missiles being transferred to Russia.
The White House has also expressed concern over reports that Iran has transferred its ballistic missiles to Russia. White House security communications adviser John Kirby said:
"We have said in the past that any such provision of this kind of technology would not only have a detrimental impact on the ability of Ukrainians to continue to defend themselves, on Ukrainian lives and livelihoods, but would also have a detrimental impact on the Middle East and Iran, which already has an advanced ballistic missile programme. We can only assume that Iran would like to benefit from some kind of partnership with Russia."
At a press conference on 9 September, the State Department spokesman stressed that US policy on strikes deep into Russian territory using US weapons remains unchanged.
"There are no policy changes that we are ready to announce. We have made it clear, as have our partners in the Group of Seven and at NATO summits, that we are prepared to respond seriously to such actions. I won't get ahead of myself, but I've spoken before about the growing concern about the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since Russia's full-scale invasion began," the US State Department spokesman said.
According to Patel, the United States continues to closely monitor the situation and, in particular, the actions of President Pesekian, "who continues to publicly say that the improvement of his country's economy depends on the improvement of Iran's foreign relations and position in the world". "Such statements cannot be reconciled with reports of missile transfers that threaten international security and international order," Patel said.
As a reminder, a number of Western media outlets have reported, citing unnamed sources, that Iran has allegedly already transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. Iran denies this.
