The British media have gained access to an alleged arms supply contract that may be the first solid evidence that Iran has sold ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The document was studied by the British channel Sky News.
If this 16-page document, dated September 14, 2022, is authentic, it refers to samples of artillery and tank shells and missiles of various sizes totaling just over $1 million.
The source provided the TV channel with the document along with five pages of an allegedly related contract containing barrels for a T-72 tank and howitzer barrels, as well as shells for it. The deal was worth about $740,000.
"This is a contract between the Iranians and the Russians regarding munitions… We believe it is 100% authentic," a British security source said.
Sky News showed the documents to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during his visit to the UK in May, as well as to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Kyiv and London said they plan to investigate the authenticity of the material and will take action if it is found to be credible.
"We suspected that there's something like that happening. As soon as we verify it properly, we will be able to act upon this," said Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK.-
"When information is presented to us, we will look to assess it and to validate it. And of course, we will make decisions based on that," said British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
"Where we have evidence that Iran has provided military support to Russia in Russia's attempted invasion of Ukraine we have taken action and we will, of course, always do likewise," he added.-
Prystaiko also said that the contract, if genuine, is proof that Russia is running out of military supplies.
"That they're actually talking about simple stuff like the armaments, like ammunition, this is showing that the Russian position is quite difficult indeed," he said.
Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 05/06/2023