The Islamic Republic of Iran has now acknowledged that it gave drones to Russia, saying that they were delivered to that country months before the conflict in Ukraine.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, said on Saturday that although Tehran had given Moscow a small number of drones months before the conflict in Ukraine, the Islamic Republic would not be indifferent if it were to turn out that Moscow had actually deployed them.
He had previously implied that some weaponry had been sent, without specifically mentioning drones, when he claimed, “Iran has not provided any weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine.”
In a statement, Amir-Abdollahian acknowledged delivering drones to Moscow at the same time that Europe and the United States denounced Iran’s backing for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran and Russia must be held accountable for their “blatant violations” of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which backed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, according to a statement from the G7 foreign ministers gathering this week in Germany.
A breach of the JCPOA, according to the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, and Japan, would occur if Iran provided combat drones to Russia (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
Further negotiations to reinstate the JCPOA are now in doubt due to Iran’s alleged provision of military gear and technicians to assist in their deployment to battlegrounds.
The diplomatic effort came to a standstill in August after 18 months of multilateral negotiations, according to the US, which said that Iran was making demands that were not covered by the 2015 agreement.
Since Iran has been rocked by violent public demonstrations since mid-September, further destabilizing its already fragile economy, Washington has promised additional penalties in response to Tehran’s provision of arms to Russia.
