Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
For the first time, Iran recognized the transfer of its drones to Russia (Photo:REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl)
Iran has admitted that it supplied Russia with drones used in the full-scale war on Ukraine, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 5, citing a statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
He claimed that the drones were transferred prior to the outbreak of war, however.
“We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” Amir-Abdollahian said, alleging that Iran had no knowledge of Russian use of Iranian drones against Ukraine. He said Iran “remained committed to stopping the conflict.”
“If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us,” he said.
“If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.”
Previously, Iranian officials had repeatedly denied supplying Russia with drones, which Russians use for attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and civilians.
Just earlier this week, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations “totally unfounded.”
The U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called on Tehran to immediately stop supplying weapons to the Russian Federation, and warned of that they would hold Iran responsible for this.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Oct. 11 that, according to intelligence, the Russian Federation ordered 2,400 Shahed kamikaze drones from Iran. After the first downed Iranian drones, Ukraine did not extend the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador and reduced the number of employees in the Iranian embassy to a only a few people.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba initiated the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran on Oct. 18.
The Iranian authorities also intend to supply the Kremlin regime with approximately 1,000 additional weapons, including surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles and more attack drones, to use in its war against Ukraine, CNN reported on Nov. 1, a claim that was confirmed by Ukrainian intelligence on Nov. 3.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
