Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, UK defense chief suggests

LONDON — The U.K. believes Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps indicated.

In an interview with the House Magazine, the senior minister confirmed that Britain has information on the reported provision of surface-to-surface missiles from Iran to Russia — but declined to get into the details.

The Reuters news agency reported in February that the Iranian regime had supplied Russia with a large number of ballistic missiles — a report that sparked a swift warning from the U.S. that, if true, Iran would be greeted with a "severe" response from the international community.

Iran publicly denied supplying Russia with the missiles. Speaking this week, Shapps suggested Britain has intelligence backing up the claim.

"I do. I can't go into it," Shapps told the House Magazine when asked if he had any information on Iran's provision of ballistic missiles to Russia.

"But whether it's ballistic missiles, or the Shahed drones that they supplied Russia with, we've seen that if there's struggle in the world, often Iran are egging it on, or helping to supply the food chain in this case," he said.

Shapps added: ""They are a bad influence, not just on their region, but in this case in Europe as well."

Any supply of missiles from Iran to Russia would indicate a strengthening of military ties between the two countries. Tehran initially held off from offering Russia missiles due to the threat of further sanctions.