US, UK fear Russia trading nuclear secrets for Iranian missiles

If Moscow aids Tehran with its deep knowledge in the nuclear arena, the threat Iran poses to the West could grow very quickly.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The U.S. is worried that Russia is trading its nuclear know-how for missiles from Iran and discussed the issue with its British ally on Friday, The Guardian reported Sunday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a meeting with President Joe Biden, and the growing ties between Tehran and Moscow were on top of the agenda as the two men and their foreign policy teams talked about how to tighten their own already-intimate military ties in response.

The alarm was already sounded last week, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited his British counterpart, David Lammy, before the two headed to Ukraine to show support for the country Russia invaded two and a half years ago and is still trying to subdue.

Moscow recently received shiploads of ballistic missiles from Iran, and in exchange, “Russia is sharing technology that Iran seeks – this is a two-way street – including on nuclear issues as well as some space information,” Blinken said.

Iran is very close to becoming a nuclear state by all Western intelligence estimates. In February 2023 it acknowledged enriching uranium to 84%, just a tiny step away from the 90% needed for a full-on nuclear weapon.

While it ostensibly has only a small amount of this purity, a May report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) noted that it has 142 kilos enriched to 60%, which would entail only a slightly longer process to get to 90%. This is still enough material to make several “dirty bombs.”

Last Monday, however, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the agency’s board of directors that his UN nuclear watchdog really has no real idea of the state of Iran’s nuclear progress.

“It is … over three and a half years since the Agency was able to conduct complementary access in Iran,” he said. “Consequently, the Agency has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate,” he added.

The purity of the uranium is the part of the equation that the Iranians have seemingly solved, with possibly only a political decision standing in the way of reaching the 90% level.

Where it is known that Russia can help enormously is in the area of how to build a working bomb-delivery system, which Western analysts believe is the major technical problem Tehran still needs to overcome.

If President Vladimir Putin decides that it is worth trading these secrets for weapons against Ukraine, a learning process that was considered at least two to three years from completion could be reduced considerably.

Iran had already sent Russia some 1,700 Shahed kamikaze drones almost two years ago, and also supplied missile designs and components that enabled Russia to build them in its own plants.

The newest batch, said Blinken, consists of high-speed Fath-360 ballistic missiles that have a range of 75 miles.

The U.S. subsequently announced the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran and Russia, including ten individuals and nine entities it says have been involved in the smuggling, including Iranian airline Iran Air and various cargo ships.

The Iranians have denied sending ballistic missiles to Russia.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani posted to X Tuesday that the report was “ugly propaganda,” meant to hide Western military support for Israel.

Antony BlinkenBallistic missilesGreat Britainiran nuclear programRussiaRussia Iran