Satellite images, cited and analyzed by the Sky News Data & Forensics team, appear to reveal a Russian-flagged cargo ship suspected of transporting ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia about a week ago.
Citing an anonymous Ukrainian source, the media outlet reported that around 220 Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles reportedly arrived in Russia on Sept. 4.
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The Fath-360 is an Iranian ballistic missile that, according to the Iranian military, has a range of 30 to 120 km, can carry a warhead weighing 150 kg, and can reach speeds of Mach 3 (1,020 m/s).
After launch, the missiles are connected to satellites to improve targeting accuracy. It is believed that the Iranians are using the Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system, an alternative to GPS.
The missiles were transported across the Caspian Sea aboard the vessel Port Olya 3, which had been placed under US sanctions just a day earlier, Sky reported.
According to Sky’s analysis, on Aug. 29, the ship was seen at Iran’s Amirabad port. Six days later, on Sept. 4, it docked in the Astrakhan region of southern Russia. For those six days, no data was shared until it arrived at the Russian port.
The Sky report suggested this a result of the ship turning off its AIS transponder to conceal movements. AIS transponders are required by the International Maritime Organization on any ship weighing 300 gross tons or more, and the Port Olya 3 weighs more than 4,800 gross tons.
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According to their sources, the missiles were loaded onto railway cars and transported to the Ashuluk test site in the Astrakhan region for testing and training exercises before potential combat use.
The Ashuluk facility, located about 100 kilometers north of Astrakhan, is known for conducting air defense and missile system tests.
According to Defense Express, the recent delivery of 220 Iranian Fath-360 ballistic missiles to Russia is likely just the first batch, and the total number of missiles transferred could increase.
The report notes that there has been no confirmed information about the transfer of missile launchers, though it is possible Russia has already produced them domestically.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the agreement for missile transfers was reached as early as December 2023, and some launchers may have been delivered by air.
The European Union said Monday, Sept.9, that its allies had shared intelligence that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, and warned of new sanctions on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed.
This information was later confirmed by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that dozens of Russian military personnel have trained in Iran using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 75 miles (120 kilometres).
Following this announcement, Western powers on Tuesday, Sept. 10, announced fresh sanctions on Iran, calling it a dangerous escalation of the conflict that threatened European security.
Britain, France and Germany said they would cut aviation agreements with the Islamic republic and look set to sanction its national carrier Iran Air, claiming Tehran had repeatedly defied warnings about the weapons transfers.
Iran, in turn, has vowed to respond to fresh sanctions and again denied it had delivered any weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
“This action of the three European countries is the continuation of the hostile policy of the West and economic terrorism against the people of Iran, which will face the appropriate and proportionate action of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement late Tuesday.
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