The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized powers condemned on September 14 “in the strongest terms” Iran’s sales and Russia’s purchases of Iranian ballistic missiles. Italy currently holds the presidency of the G7 group.
Iran has supplied UAVs (drones) to Russia from the first year of the war, but Tehran’s current escalation to the supply of ballistic missiles is of massive concern to the G7 primarily because these weapons go directly to battlefield use against Ukraine, boosting Russia’s ready arsenal.
The G7 issued an earlier warning to Iran in March 2024 against supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, and threatening sanctions. Some sanctions have since been applied and new measures are expected, as hinted at in the statement below.
The text of the following G7 statement was released on September 14 by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union:
“We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the EU, condemn in the strongest possible terms Iran’s export and Russia’s procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles. Evidence that Iran has continued to transfer weaponry to Russia despite repeated international calls to stop represents a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Russia has used Iranian weaponry such as UAVs to kill Ukrainian civilians and strike their critical infrastructure. Russia’s aggression constitutes a flagrant violation of international law including the UN Charter. Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to hold Iran to account for its unacceptable support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine that further undermines global security. In line with our previous statements on the matter, we are already responding with new and significant measures.”