The US and Britain accuse Iran of sending Russia missiles to use against Ukraine

LONDON (AP) — The United States and Britain formally accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine, announcing new sanctions on Moscow and Tehran before a joint visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a visit to London, said Iran had ignored warnings that the transfer of such weapons would be a profound escalation of the conflict.

He told reporters that dozens of Russian military personnel had been trained in Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles (120 kilometers).

“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine, against Ukrainians,” Blinken said. “The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line.”

The West's allegations about the missile transfers come as the Kremlin is trying to repel Ukraine’s surprise offensive, which has claimed hundreds of square miles of territory in Russia’s Kursk region. The accusations could embolden Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to further ramp up pressure on the U.S. and other allies to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia and hit sites from which Moscow launches aerial attacks.

Iran's foreign ministry denies providing ballistic missiles to Russia, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

“Publishing wrong and misleading reports about transferring Iranian weapons to some countries is merely an ugly propaganda and lie aimed at hiding illegal massive size weaponry support by the U.S. and some Western nations for genocide in the Gaza Strip," it quoted ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani as saying.

The U.S., U.K. and other Western allies are pressing for a cease-fire to end the devastating war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and avoid attacks from Iranian proxies in the region escalating into a broader war.

Britain, France and Germany announced new sanctions Tuesday against Iran and Russia, calling the missile transfers “a direct threat to European security.” The penalties include the cancellation of air services agreements with Iran, which will restrict Iran Air’s ability to fly to the U.K. and Germany.

Britain also said it and the United States were sanctioning those involved in sending Iranian drones and missiles to Russia. They include two senior officers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a senior defense ministry official, as well as several businesses and four Russian cargo ships alleged to have transported supplies from Iran to Russia. Three Russian military units involved with aviation and aerospace also were sanctioned.

The U.S. Treasury and the State Department in the past few years have imposed economic sanctions on people and companies based in Iran, China, Russia, Turkey and other nations who officials allege are connected with the development of Iran’s drone program.

The sanctions on Iranian drone production tied to Russia’s invasion, dating to November 2022, were issued despite Iranian leaders’ denials that the country had sent them.

Sanctions, among other things, bar people and businesses from accessing property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.

The announcement precedes a Blinken and Lammy visit Wednesday to Kyiv, where they will meet Zelenskyy and other officials to discuss bolstering the country's defenses. The rare joint visit was unusually announced in advance — a public signal of U.S-.U.K. support for Ukraine ahead of what’s likely to be a brutal winter of Russian attacks.

Asked whether the U.S. would allow weapons it supplied to be used to strike targets deeper inside Russia, Blinken said all use of weapons needed to be allied to a strategy.

He said one goal of the visit this week “is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership, including … President Zelenskyy, about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, toward what objectives, and what we can do to support those needs.”

President Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to fire U.S.-provided missiles across the border into Russia in self-defense but largely limited the distance over concerns about further escalating the conflict. Blinken met Tuesday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will sit down with Biden at the White House on Friday.

“We will be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners, we will both be reporting back to the prime minister, to President Biden in the coming days, and I fully anticipate this is something they will take up when they meet on Friday,” Blinken said.

In the meantime, Ukraine is using its own weapons to hit targets deeper in Russia, launching on Tuesday one of the biggest drone attacks on Russian soil in the 2 1/2-year war to target multiple regions including Moscow.

Word of the alleged transfers from Iran began to emerge over the weekend. Lammy called them part of “a troubling pattern that we’re seeing. It is definitely a significant escalation.”

The U.S. and its allies have been warning Iran for months not to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.

CIA Director William Burns, who was in London on Saturday for a joint appearance with his British intelligence counterpart, warned of the growing and “troubling” defense relationship involving Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, which he said threatens both Ukraine and Western allies in the Middle East.

The White House has repeatedly declassified and publicized intelligence findings that show North Korea has sent ammunition and missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine, while Iran also supplies Moscow with attack drones and has assisted the Kremlin with building a drone-manufacturing factory.

China has held back from providing Russians with weaponry but has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry, according to U.S. officials.

Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, listens to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy during a joint press conference in the Locarno room at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy shake hands at the end of their joint press conference in the Locarno room at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, speaks to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy as he arrives for a meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, talks to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy as he arrives for a meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, talks to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy as he arrives for a meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, listens to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in a strategic dialogue meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, arrives for a strategic dialogue meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, speaks during a strategic dialogue meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a strategic dialogue meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, listens to Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in a strategic dialogue meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Locarno room at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Locarno room at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, gestures as he participates with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in a strategic dialogue meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Cade Klubnik had 235 passing yards and threw touchdown passes to Antonio Williams and T.J. Moore as No. 15 Clemson jumped to an early lead and cruised past Florida State 29-13 on Saturday night.

“I thought Cade played great,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Gritty. Made some plays with his legs. He’s just been a difference maker for us in his recognition. He’s been much more opportunistic. Has really made some big plays.”

Klubnik completed 19 of 33 passes and ran for 62 yards on 11 carries. He threw a 57-yard touchdown to Williams and a 23-yard touchdown to Moore as Clemson built a 17-0 lead after one quarter.

“Really proud of the guys,” Klubnik said. “Obviously want to convert some of those field goals to touchdowns. I feel like we played an A-minus, B-plus game on offense in total and we still had 500 yards of offense.”

Klubnik now has 14 touchdown passes in five games.

Phil Mafah ran for 154 yards on 20 carries as Clemson (4-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) finished with 265 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. The Tigers owned the line of scrimmage and won their first road game of 2024.

Coach Dabo Swinney picked up his 174th win at Clemson, breaking the record for victories at an ACC school — a mark held by Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, who won 173 games from the time the school joined the league in 1992 to his retirement in 2009.

“It’s a blessing,” Swinney said. “And I honestly think coach Bowden is probably smiling. Somebody has to break it. Somebody will break this record one of these days. It’s not ever anything I’ve ever dreamed about or cared about or thought about doing.”

While Florida State won the 2023 matchup in Death Valley, Clemson has won four straight games in Tallahassee.

Brock Glenn, making his third career start, completed 23 of 41 passes for 228 yards and touchdowns to Amaree Williams and Ja’Khi Douglas for Florida State (1-5, 1-4). He completed more passes than he had in his previous two starts plus mop-up time.

“I appreciated his energy,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “He showed toughness throughout the course of the game. Made some really good plays.”

QB FRIENDSHIP

Klubnik caught up with Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei after the game. The two were teammates at Clemson in 2022, which was Klubnik’s freshman year and Uiagalelei’s last year before transferring to Oregon State for the 2023 season. Uiagalelei did not play for the Seminoles on Saturday due to injury.

“We text every once in a while,” Klubnik said. “I told him I was praying for his hand. But more than anything I told him I was thankful for him and thankful for the time that we had together. It was great to see him.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Clemson is poised to move up, especially on a day when so many top 10 teams lost.

TAKEAWAYS

Clemson: The Tigers racked up 500 offensive yards, controlling the line of scrimmage for large portions of the game.

Florida State: The Seminoles didn’t have any rushing yardage through three quarters, finishing with 22 yards on 23 carries and lacking balance to support a redshirt freshman quarterback.

UP NEXT

Clemson plays at Wake Forest next Saturday.

Florida State has a bye and will next play at Duke on Oct. 18.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Florida State quarterback Brock Glenn (11) passes under pressure from Clemson linebacker Wade Woodaz (17) during the first second of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. Clemson beat Florida State 29-13. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)

Clemson tight end Josh Sapp safety is sandwiched by Florida State defensives back Ashlynd Barker (27) and Kevin Knowles II (3) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)

Clemson wide receiver T.J. Moore (1) is all alone as he scores his team's second touchdown against Florida State during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)

Clemson wide receiver T.J. Moore (1) and quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) celebrate after Moore caught a pass from Klubnik to score the team's second touchdown against Florida State during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)