Iran has vehemently denied allegations made by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that it is supplying weapons to Russia.

“Linking the Ukraine conflict to Iran-Russia cooperation is a politically motivated move aimed at justifying Western intervention and continued military aid to Ukraine,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Thursday.

At the 75th anniversary of NATO’s founding on Wednesday, President Joe Biden claimed that Iran and North Korea were fueling Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine by providing ballistic missiles and suicide drones.

“Right now, Russia is on a wartime footing with regard to defence production. They are significantly ramping up their production of weapons, munitions, and vehicles. And they’re doing it with the help of China, North Korea, and Iran,” Biden said. “We cannot, in my view, we cannot allow the NATO alliance to fall behind.”

Despite crippling international sanctions imposed on both Russia and Iran, mutual trade between the two tyrannical regimes is estimated at $4 billion. In a symbolic move in December, they agreed to eliminate the use of the US dollar in bilateral trade, a development heralded by Iran’s central bank governor as a “new chapter” in their partnership.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that his country will lose the war if NATO falters. According to the US State Department, approximately $51.4 billion in military assistance has been provided to Ukraine since 2022.