Iran sends powerful missiles to Russia after Biden admin lets pre-emptive sanctions lapse

Iran is sending powerful missiles to Russia after the Biden administration and members of the United Nations (UN) allowed preventive sanctions to expire.

Iran sent hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia and will in turn receive fighter jets and helicopters from Moscow, marking the deepest military ties between the two countries in recent years, according to Reuters. reported Wednesday. European and US partners declined to avoid the expiration of UN sanctions at the end of 2023 that curbed Iran's ability to transfer missiles.

“It was always a question of when, not if, Iran would transfer ballistic missiles to Russia,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu said in a statement on Wednesday. “Make no mistake, the country with the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East is now providing the Russian Federation with its deadliest weapons.”

Iran made several shipments of the missiles to Russia in January, and more shipments are expected in the coming weeks, according to Reuters. The shipment was agreed as part of a deal that was finalized in late 2023.

“There will be more shipments,” an Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “There is no reason to hide it. We are allowed to export weapons to any country we want.”

Russia received 400 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles from Iran, many of which are from the Fateh-110 family and have a range of approximately 186 to 435 miles; According to Reuters, Iran will receive Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 pilot training aircraft from Russia. Iran has it too provided Russia with thousands of Shahed attack drones, although it initially denied that it did so.

The relationship between Iran and Russia has grown constantly since the latter first invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Tehran believes that Moscow can help it evade US sanctions and strengthen its presence on the world stage.

“For a risk-tolerant Islamic Republic, the partnership with Russia continues to pay off,” Taleblu said.

The shipments come after the expiration of UN Security Council sanctions that previously prevented Iran from testing or transferring ballistic missile technology. seconds to FDD. The sanctions were set to expire in October 2023, although the Biden administration and European partners had the ability to prevent them from expiring.

With sanctions gone, Iran can now “legally” test and transfer ballistic missiles, according to FDD.

The Biden administration has been accused of taking a soft spot stance in dealing with Iran, such as oil cuts penalties which allowed Tehran to accumulate billions of dollars and pay “rescue” for six Americans wrongfully held captive in the country. The Biden administration hopes its policies toward Iran will encourage the country to be less aggressive, but critics say that won't happen.

The White House National Security Council and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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