Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denied that the Islamic Republic had transferred the weapons. File. | Photo credit: AP
Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) condemned Iran for handing over ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war and announced new sanctions targeting air transport.
“We will take immediate steps to cancel bilateral air service agreements with Iran,” the three European countries said in a joint statement, adding that they would also “work towards imposing sanctions on Iran Air.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier said during a visit to London that Russia had received a shipment of ballistic missiles and “they will likely be used in Ukraine within a matter of weeks”.
London, Paris and Berlin said that, despite their warnings of “new and significant measures against Iran” if it sent up missiles, “we now have confirmation that Iran has carried out these transfers”.
“This is a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and will allow Iranian missiles to reach European soil, increasing the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
“This act is an aggressive move by both Iran and Russia and is a direct threat to European security.”
The three countries said they would “take immediate steps to cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran”.
“In addition, we will take action to designate significant entities and individuals involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia.
“We will also work towards imposing sanctions on Iran Air,” he said, reminding of the step taken by Washington.
Shortly before the joint declaration, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani denied in a message on the social media platform X that the Islamic Republic had transferred weapons.
He wrote that “spreading false and misleading news about Iranian arms transfers to certain countries” is “disgusting propaganda” and a lie.
He alleged it was aimed at concealing “the dimension of the massive illegal arms support by the United States and some Western countries for the genocide in the Gaza Strip”, where Israel is at war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Published – September 10, 2024 09:32 PM IST