Iran supplying Russia with ballistic missiles shows they are ‘bad influence’ in Europe, Grant Shapps signals
Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles as Moscow wages war in Ukraine, Britain’s defence secretary has signalled, accusing Tehran of being a “bad influence” in Europe.
Grant Shapps was asked in an interview with a political magazine whether he had any information on Iran‘s reported provision of surface-to-surface missiles to Russia.
The senior cabinet minister told The House publication: “I do. I can’t go into it.”
He continued: “But… whether it’s ballistic missiles, or the Shahed drones that they supplied Russia with, we’ve seen that if there’s struggle in the world, often Iran are egging it on, or helping to supply the food chain in this case.
“They are a bad influence, not just on their region, but in this case in Europe as well.”
Last month, the Reuters news agency reported that the Iranian regime had supplied around 400 missiles to Russia for the first time since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The munitions included many short-range ballistic missiles, with the ability to strike targets at a range of between 186 and 435 miles.
Iran has since denied the claim. Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
The Russian military has used up much of its own stockpiles of surface-to-surface missiles in waves of airstrikes against Ukraine over the past two years.
North Korea – another authoritarian ally – has started supplying missiles but stocks from Iran would also be an important boost as Russia increases its domestic production lines.
Worryingly for the West, the long-feared move marks a further strengthening of military ties between Tehran and Moscow.
Iran had previously held off from offering up its vast stockpiles of precision-guided missiles, amid the threat of further sanctions and international isolation.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps in January. Pic: PA
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However, its calculations appear to have changed following the expiry last October of UN Security Council sanctions designed to curb Iran’s ballistic missile programme as part of a major 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers that has since unravelled.
Tehran has already been a key backer of Russia’s war in Ukraine, supplying Shahed attack drones, other unmanned aerial vehicles and ammunition in defiance of western warnings.
As well as Iranian activity, the defence secretary was also quizzed on a failed test-fire of a Trident missile by a Royal Navy nuclear deterrent submarine for the second time in a row.
Mr Shapps played down the incident, which happened towards the end of January off the coast of Florida, and said the UK’s actual nuclear-armed warheads would not misfire.
“I’m absolutely 100% confident that Russia understands that we have a nuclear capability, meaning that our deterrent is 100 per cent exactly that: a deterrent,” he said.
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As for the size of the UK armed forces after decades of cuts – another key talking point, especially ahead of the budget – Mr Shapps said he is “not against having more troops”.
But he said he was not about to refresh a major defence review that decided the current size and shape of the military, stressing: “I’m sticking by that decision.”
Instead, he appeared to favour prioritising investment in electronic warfare, space capabilities and drones, rather than boots on the ground.
“In Ukraine, we know that cyber warfare and electronic warfare: those elements have been absolutely critical to the war,” he said.
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“It’s not about having another 10, 20,000 troops. It’s about having the skills and the science.”
Mr Shapps also did not see a requirement – advocated by his outgoing army chief as well as the Baltic states – to start training up British citizens in case of any future war.
“Estonia are right on the border, at the frontline essentially,” the defence secretary said.
“The UK is an island; we’re not in that situation. Nor do we see an immediate danger of invasion.”
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
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The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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