False naivety or alleged cynicism? Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Monday that his country will not remain “indifferent” if Russia is shown to be using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Russia had ordered “about 2,000 Iranian Shahed,” suicide drones, to support its invasion of Ukraine.
“In the Ukraine war … we are against arming both Russia and Ukraine,” he said in video remarks broadcast by local media. “We have not provided Russia with weapons or drones to use in the war against Ukraine,” she added, repeating previous denials, while acknowledging defense cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Tehran accused
The Iranian minister reaffirmed his country’s willingness to hold direct talks with Ukraine on this issue and stressed that he had sent a message in this regard to the head of European Union (EU) diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“I told Josep Borrell that if it becomes clear to us that Russia used Iranian drones against Ukraine, we will certainly not be indifferent to this issue,” he said.
In recent weeks, Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in attacks against Ukraine. Iran has rejected the accusations, while the Kremlin has argued that Westerners are trying to “pressure” Tehran.
Last week, the EU and UK announced new sanctions against Iran, targeting three generals and an arms company “responsible for supplying Russia with suicide drones” to bomb Ukraine.
Earlier on Monday, Tehran foreign affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani rejected US accusations that Iranian military personnel were deployed to Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow, to help the Russians operate drones launched against energy infrastructure and cities of Ukraine.
“We strongly condemn these accusations that are intended to distract public opinion from the destructive role (of the United States) in the war in Ukraine (…) through the massive export of weapons and equipment” to Kyiv, he said.
In September, Kyiv decided to drastically reduce diplomatic relations with Tehran due to alleged arms shipments to Moscow.
Source: BFM TV
