Paper airplanes are seen in front of the Iranian Embassy during a protest against Iran’s alleged supply of drones to Russia after Kyiv was hit by a series of deadly attacks on Monday, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 18, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | beautiful pictures
Iran admitted for the first time that it had supplied the drones to Moscow but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power plants and infrastructure. civil class.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a “small number” of drones had been shipped months before Russia’s February 24 invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Tehran of lying, saying Kyiv’s forces shot down at least 10 drones a day.
In Iran’s most detailed response to date, Amirabdollahian denied Tehran was continuing to supply Moscow with drones.
The IRNA news agency quoted him as saying: “This rumbling by some Western countries that Iran has supplied missiles and drones to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine – the missile part is complete. totally wrong”.
“The drone part is true and we supplied Russia with a small number of drones a few months before the Ukraine war,” he said.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported an increase in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, especially against power stations and dams, using drones. Shahed-136 is made by Iran. Russia denies its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
In a video speech, Zelenskyy dismissed talk of limited Iranian supplies to Russia, saying Ukraine shot down 11 drones on Friday alone.
“If Iran continues to lie about the obvious, it means that the world will make more efforts to investigate terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia pays Iran for cooperation.” there,” he said.
Separately, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley tweeted that Iran sent a few drones which is untrue.
“They delivered dozens of them just this summer and let military personnel in occupied Ukraine help Russia use them,” he said.
Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly pressed allies to provide more defense against aircraft and missiles, said he expected “good news” in the coming weeks but gave no details. Kyiv, he added, will next week launch a fundraising campaign to buy drones at sea.
Last month, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Iran had promised to supply Russia surface-to-ground missilein addition to more drones.
IRNA quoted Amirabdollahian as saying that Tehran and Kyiv had agreed to discuss allegations of Iran’s use of drones but Ukraine was not present for the talks.
In a Facebook response, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Amirabdollahian was spreading “insinuations about alleged denials from the Ukrainian side”.
Amirabdollahian reiterated that Tehran would “not be indifferent” if it was proven that Russia used Iranian drones against Ukraine.
Last month, the European Union agreed to new sanctions on Iran over drone deliveries, and Britain imposed sanctions on three Iranian military figures and a manufacturer. defense export.
