U.S. to focus on preventing Iranian arms supplies to Russia
The US will also support the protesters in Iran (Photo:REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado)
The United States will focus on preventing the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia and supporting the protesters in Iran, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 3, citing Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley.
At the same time, Washington no longer intends to work on the restoration of the agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran is not interested in a deal and we’re focused on other things,” said Malley.
“Right now we can make a difference in trying to deter and disrupt the provision of weapons to Russia and trying to support the fundamental aspirations of the Iranian people."
He stressed that the U.S. goal is to "disrupt, delay, deter and sanction" the supply of weapons to Russia from Iran. The envoy noted that possible supplies of missiles to Russia or assistance in the organization of weapons production "would be crossing new lines".
Russia has received hundreds of combat drones from Iran, and is using three types of them against Ukraine: the Mohajer-6, the Shahed-129, and the Shahed-191. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Moscow has ordered a total of 2,400 drones of the latter type from Tehran.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian admitted for the first time that Tehran had indeed handed over drones to Russia, but claimed that it happened before the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
Washington refuted this and stressed that Iran handed over drones to Russia in the summer of 2022, and also sent its military specialists to occupied Ukrainian territories to train the Russian armed forces.
Earlier reports have indicated a number of Iranian military trainers have perished in strikes on Russian facilities in occupied Crimea.
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