Iranian missiles secretly shipped to Russia amid Ukraine crisis

The television station CNN has obtained a photo of a ship in a Russian port on the Caspian Sea, which, according to American sources, transported Iranian-made ballistic missiles. The container ship was reportedly in that port eight days ago.

Maxar Technologies, a company specializing in satellite photography, identified the ship Port Olya 3 using satellite imagery. CNN reported on Wednesday that the image was captured on September 4 in the port in Astrakhan Oblast in Russia. Sky News also published the photo.

According to data from maritime tracking sites, the container ship was in the Iranian port of Amirabad on August 29. Notably, shortly after leaving the port, the ship turned off its transponder, making tracking it impossible.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that the Russian defense ministry "used the ship Port Olya 3 to transport ballistic missiles from Iran". A day earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during his visit to London that the U.S. believes Russia received a batch of Fath-360 ballistic missiles made in Iran, which it may use in the coming weeks for attacks in Ukraine.

"In September 2024, Russia received the first batch of Iranian short-range ballistic missiles," the U.S. Treasury Department said, announcing sanctions on the Port Olya 3 and three other ships, as well as a group of Iranian citizens.

CNN had previously received information from American officials that negotiations between Russia and Iran began in September last year. The negotiations reportedly occurred when then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Iran to view Ababil's short-range missiles.

The American television station added that President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss the transport of Iranian weapons to Russia on Friday.