Iran admitted for the first time today that it has supplied Moscow with drones but clarified that they were delivered before the war in Ukraine
The Iran admitted for the first time today that it has supplied Moscow with drones, but clarified that they were delivered before the war to Ukrainewhere Russia uses them to hit civilian infrastructure and power plants.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a “small number” of drones was sent to Russia a few months before the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Drones have become a key weapon in its arsenal of Russia during the war in Ukraine and have been used frequently in the past month, targeting critical energy infrastructure.
Ukraine has so far shot down more than 300 Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.
In its most detailed response yet on drones, Iran denied that Tehran continues to supply Moscow with drones.
“This noise made by some Western countries that Iran has supplied missiles and drones to Russia to contribute to the war against Ukraine…the missile part is completely wrong,” the minister said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
“The drone part is true and we supplied Russia with a small number of drones in the months leading up to the war in Ukraine,” he said.
Russia denies that its forces have used Iranian drones to strike Ukraine.
Read more: Ukraine’s… Dronebusters – Instead of ghosts, they neutralize enemy drones
Last month, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Iran had committed to supplying Russia with surface-to-surface missiles in addition to drones.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Amirabdolakhian as saying that Tehran and Kyiv had agreed to discuss allegations of Iranian drone use in Ukraine two weeks ago, but the Ukrainians did not show up for the scheduled meeting.
“We agreed with Ukraine’s foreign minister to supply us with documents that the Ukrainians have that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine,” the minister added, but the Ukrainian delegation pulled out of the planned meeting at the last minute.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
Iran’s foreign minister reiterated that Tehran “will not remain indifferent” if it is proven that Russia has used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine.
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