WASHINGTON—As many as four of the 26 long-range cruise missiles that Russia said it fired at Syrian targets landed instead in Iran, U.S. defense officials said Thursday.
The officials said it’s unclear whether the errant missiles, launched from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea, caused any significant damage in Iran. Both the Russian government and state-run Iranian media accused the United States of inaccurate or deliberately deceptive statements.
Three U.S. officials said four missiles went off course. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Russian government said on Wednesday that it launched 26 cruise missiles, hitting targets in north and northwestern Syrian provinces. It made no mention of any missiles going astray, suggesting that the operation was fully successful. The missiles’ intended flight paths took them over Iran and Iraq.
On Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense employed a little sarcasm in its denial.
“However unpleasant and ‘unexpected’ it may be for our colleagues at the Pentagon and Langley (CIA’s Virginia headquarters) about yesterday’s attacks by high-accuracy weapons on the (ISIS) infrastructure in Syria—all the same, all rockets fired from ships found their targets,” said a ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.
