The Russian embassy in Tehran has denied that Iranian networks help smuggle munitions and military hardware sourced from Iraq to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

The embassy said in a tweet on Sunday, “The information that appeared in some media about the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia is fake and does not correspond with reality”.

The Guardian had quoted Iranian-backed Iraqi militias and regional intelligence services on April 12 as saying that undercover networks were used in the past month to supply rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank missiles and Brazilian-designed rocket launcher systems to Russia.

The embassy rejected the report about 12 days later probably because reports have emerged saying that flights by Iranian military-affiliated planes to and from Russia have increased since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The Iranian embassy in London also dismissed the Guardian article as “baseless storytelling”.

A source who helped organize the transport said the Iranian authorities had also donated an Iranian-made Bavar 373 missile system, similar to Russia’s S-300, to Moscow. Tehran also returned an S-300 to Russia, the source said.

Earlier in April, The Telegraph reported that Russia was running out of some weapons because critical parts were made in Ukraine, including Kh-55 nuclear capable cruise missiles that are also used by Iran and China.