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Kremlin, on Report of Missile Supplies from Iran, Says Tehran Is its Partner 

A Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran, on March 9, 2016. (AP)
A Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran, on March 9, 2016. (AP)
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Kremlin, on Report of Missile Supplies from Iran, Says Tehran Is its Partner 

A Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran, on March 9, 2016. (AP)
A Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran, on March 9, 2016. (AP)

The Kremlin, asked on Monday about a Wall Street Journal report that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, said that Iran is Russia's partner, and that the two countries are developing dialogue in all areas.

The Journal cited unidentified US and European officials as saying that Iran had sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he had seen the report but that not all such reports were correct.

"Iran is our important partner, we are developing our trade and economic relations, we are developing our cooperation and dialogue in all possible areas, including the most sensitive ones," Peskov told reporters.

Tehran and Moscow have drawn closer since Russia ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, with Iran supplying its Shahed drones to Russia's military.

Reports of Iran transferring missiles to Russia are "psychological warfare", senior Revolutionary Guards' commander Fazlollah Nozari said on Monday according to state media.

Any Iranian transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia would mark a sharp escalation in the Ukraine war, the United States said on Friday.

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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the US ally hand it over.

In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China.

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the US government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

"It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.