$1.7M Contract Shows Iran

Nov 21, 2023

An arms contract signed last fall claims to show Iranian ammunition supplies to Russia, Sky News reported Monday, citing an unnamed informed source.

If confirmed as authentic, the contract offers direct evidence of Western accusations that Iran has supplied Russia with ammunition amid its offensive on Ukraine. Tehran has repeatedly denied selling arms and ammunition to Moscow since the start of the war.

The 16-page document dated Sept. 14, 2022, and written in English lists 1,000 122mm, 125mm and 155mm high-explosive rounds totaling $1,013,100.

A separate Russian-language annex to the contract lists 72,000 rounds of the same caliber without specifying their cost.

Another five-page contract includes $740,000 worth of T-72 tanks and Howitzer artillery barrels, according to Sky News.

The parties in the deal are said to be Russia's state military import-export company Rosoboronexport and Iran's defense and logistics ministry.

The broadcaster cited its source as saying that Moscow and Tehran had signed "a number of related contracts and supplementary sections" at around the same time.

"The timing matched up with when we started to see certain transfers being made," Jack Watling, an Iran expert at the Royal United Services Institute who has also covered the war in Ukraine, told Sky News.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the contracts, but the source said "We believe it is 100% authentic."

The Russian and Iranian embassies in London did not respond to Sky News' requests for comment.

Moscow has faced widely reported shortages of ammunition since invading Ukraine in February 2022, while Western sanctions have hindered the Russian defense industry's ability to replenish stocks.

Ukraine's Ambassador in London Vadym Prystaiko said the contract, if authentic, "is showing that the Russian position is quite difficult indeed."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly vowed to take action once the contract's authenticity is validated.

London has imposed sanctions on Iran over its supplies of combat drones to Russia.