A cargo ship believed to be carrying ballistic missiles from Iran was spotted in a Russian port last week, according to newly released satellite images.
The United States and its European allies confirmed on Tuesday that Russia has received short-range ballistic missiles from Iran and will likely use them to attack Ukraine in the coming weeks, describing the development as a major escalation of the war.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Moscow received its first shipment of missiles in early September, using the Russian-flagged Port Olya-3 to transport the missiles from Iran.
Recent satellite imagery taken by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider shows what has been identified as Olya-3 at the port of Olya on September 4. The port is located on the Caspian Sea coast in the Astrakhan region of southwest Russia.
Just a few days earlier, in late August, the Orya 3 had been anchored in the Iranian port of Amirabad across the Caspian Sea, according to publicly available ship-tracking data.
Sky News first reported the newly available satellite images on Wednesday.
The Orya 3 regularly transits the Caspian Sea to transport cargo between Iran and Russia, according to the Treasury Department, which announced the sanctions against the ship as part of a broader effort to target Tehran and its assets in response to the missile transfers.
U.S. officials said dozens of Russian military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fas-360 missile, a short-range ballistic missile that Tehran has now handed over to Moscow, which is satellite-guided and has a maximum range of about 75 miles.
The missile can be equipped with a 330-pound warhead and could pose a lethal threat to Ukrainian military targets and civilian infrastructure.
The exact number of missiles Russia received is unclear, but the Treasury Department said Moscow and Tehran had signed an agreement for the supply of several hundred missiles in the second half of 2023.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia could use Iran’s new missiles against closer-range targets in Ukraine and its own ballistic missiles for deeper strikes.
The Biden administration has long warned about deepening military ties between Russia and Iran, and Kirby said Tuesday that Moscow has been sharing space-related intelligence and highly sought-after nuclear technology with Iran.
The governments of Britain, France and Germany described the handover of nuclear weapons as “an increase in tensions between both Iran and Russia” and a “direct threat to European security”.
“This is a further escalation of Iranian military support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and will result in Iranian missiles reaching European territory and increasing the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” the two countries said in a joint statement.
The delivery of the Fas-360 missiles marks Russia’s latest foreign arms transfer, as the country continues to rely on military aid from other pariah states such as Iran and North Korea to maintain its military presence in Ukraine.
Iran has also provided Russia with one-way attack drones, while North Korea has provided Moscow with ballistic missiles and artillery — deals that Western countries, including the United States, have condemned as destabilizing and exacerbating tensions.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the recent missile transfers between Iran and Russia are likely not a “one-off good deal” and that Moscow may seek additional weapons in the future.