By Deborah Haynes, Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah
A purported arms contract seen by Sky News offers the first hard evidence that Iran has sold ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine, an informed security source has claimed.
If authentic, the 16-page document, dated 14 September 2022, appears to be for samples of varying sizes of artillery and tank shells and rockets worth just over $1m (£800,000).
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It was shared by the source along with five pages of an allegedly linked contract that includes barrels for a T-72 tank and barrels for a Howitzer artillery piece, as well as ammunition shells. That deal was worth about $740,000 (£590,000).
Sky News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the documents independently.
However, the security source alleged: “This is a contract between the Iranians and the Russians regarding munitions… We believe it is 100% authentic.”
Russia‘s embassy and Iran‘s embassy to the UK respectively did not respond to a request for comment on the claims about an arms deal, nor on the authenticity of the documents.
Sky News showed the documents – which can be viewed in full here – to Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine‘s prime minister, when he visited Britain in May and to the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly.
Kyiv and London said they planned to investigate the authenticity of the material and would take action if it was found to be credible.