Iran has already moved to deliver short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The move is expected to give Moscow another powerful military tool to use in war against Ukraine while it comes despite stern Western warnings to Tehran not to provide those weapons to Moscow, according to US and European officials.

According to the same publication, Washington briefed allies on Iran’s move over the past two days, European officials said.

A US official confirmed that the missiles were “finally delivered”.

The National Security Council did not respond to an immediate request for comment. There was no immediate comment from the Iranian mission to United Nations in New York or from the Russian Embassy in Washington.

Russia has already received Iranian drones, which it has used in Ukraine. At the same time, it is using ammunition and missiles from North Korea to strike Ukraine.

The missile deliveries could also have implications for the new Iranian government’s hopes of reducing tensions with the West. The country’s new president, Massoud Pezheskian, has said he hopes to improve the domestic economy by winning sanctions relief from Europe and the US.

Iran’s military ties with Russia are largely overseen by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In March, G7 leaders warned they would impose coordinated sanctions on Iran if it carried out the missile transfer.

The mission includes several hundred short-range ballistic missiles, according to Western officials. Iran has a variety of such weapons, with ranges extending up to about 500 miles.

“This is not the end,” said a senior European official, noting that Iran is expected to maintain the flow of arms to Russia.