Link to article: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240909-eu-aware-of-claims-iran-sent-missiles-to-russia-denied-by-tehran
On Monday, September 9th, the European Union received information from its allies stating that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles with the intent of being used in Ukraine. US media outlets had also previously reported suspicions involving Iran in the week prior. While Nasser Kanani, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, stated that “We strongly reject the claims on Iran’s role in exporting arms to one side of the war”, spokespeople from the Kremlin have not directly denied the accusations. However, Ukraine claims they have been constantly assaulted by Iranian-designed drones and that they have found fragments of missiles on their land originating from North Korea. If the allegations are found true, the EU has stated that they will “respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners, including with new and restrictive measures against Iran.”
The Russian/Ukrainian war has evidently placed global pressure on many countries, specifically those that are members of the EU and NATO. Consequently, tensions between Ukraine and Russia and its neighboring countries have drastically increased, and actions taken by a country like Iran could have a domino effect. The European Union has already declared that “this delivery would represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine”, and will respond with measures against Iran. If one country, like Poland, takes action against Russia, Iran, or any other country aiding the war against Ukraine, and is attacked, the member countries of the EU will have to assist them. If this happens, NATO would need to get involved, and could result in a full blown world war.
Iran has already denied the accusations being held against them, but Russia has not explicitly rejected the claims. If the EU determines that the allegations are in fact true, they could take action against Iran as it would “represent a substantive material escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine”. If a country involved in an inter-governmental organization takes an offensive approach against Russia or Iran, this could open a window of opportunity for these countries to fire back. At this point, a chain reaction would occur, with more and more countries being drawn into the war because of their involvement in NATO and the EU.
Relating to the global arena, a topic that has been firmly present in our lessons and discussions has been the idea of IGOs, Inter-governmental Organizations such as the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This article directly states an issue involving the EU, one of the central IGOs we have discussed, and states that the European Union will act if proven that the situation has escalated.