Ukraine War: Iran claims it provided drones to Russia
A “small number” of drones were sent to Russia months before the invasion, but the minister disputes that supply is still being made.
For the first time, Iran has admitted to supplying drones to Moscow, but it claims the drones were sent before the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia has been using drones to attack power plants and other civilian infrastructure.
A “small number” of drones, according to the Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were given to Russia a few months before the Russian military invaded Ukraine on February 24. He denied that Moscow was still receiving drones from Tehran.
He was quoted as saying, “This fuss made by some western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine – the missile part is completely wrong. The part about the drones is true, and we did give Russia a few drones months before the war in Ukraine.”
Ukraine has reported an increase in drone assaults in recent weeks on civilian infrastructure, including power plants and dams, utilizing Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. Russian soldiers have not attacked Ukraine with Iranian drones, according to Russia.
Two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters last month that Iran had pledged to give Russia additional drones in addition to surface-to-surface missiles.
Amirabdollahian was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as claiming that Kyiv and Tehran had agreed to meet two weeks ago to discuss concerns about the use of Iranian drones in Ukraine, but the Ukrainians did not show up.
Amirabdollahian stated, “We agreed with the Ukrainian foreign minister to supply us with the documentation they have that prove Russia employed Iranian drones in Ukraine, but they abruptly canceled the meeting.”
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by the Ukrainian foreign ministry.
Tehran would “not remain passive,” Amirabdollahian reaffirmed if it were established that Russia had employed Iranian drones in its campaign against Ukraine.
In response to Iran’s drone deliveries to Russia, the EU approved new sanctions last month, and Britain imposed sanctions on three Iranian military officials and a defense company. Russia used these drones to attack civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
