Iran admitted for the first time on Saturday that it had supplied drones to Moscow, but said they were sent before the war to Ukraine, where Russia uses drones to target power plants and civilian infrastructure. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a “small number” of drones had been delivered to Russia several months before Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
In Iran’s most detailed response to the drones to date, Amirabdollahian denied that Tehran continued to supply drones to Moscow. “This fuss 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 official news agency quoted him as saying.
“The drone part is true and we provided Russia with a small number of drones months before the war in Ukraine,” he said. “The drone part is true and we provided Russia with a small number of drones months before the war in Ukraine,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey on June 27, 2022.
Russian use of Iranian drones in Ukraine
In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported a sharp increase in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, particularly targeting power plants and dams, using Iranian Shahed-136 drones. Russia denies its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. Last month, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told that Iran had promised to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles in addition to drones.
The official news agency quoted Amirabdollahian as saying that Tehran and Kyiv agreed two weeks ago to discuss allegations of Iran’s use of drones in Ukraine, but the Ukrainians did not show up for the agreed meeting. “We agreed with the foreign minister of Ukraine to provide us with the documents they have that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine,” Amirabdollahian said, but the Ukrainian delegation pulled out of the planned meeting at the last minute.
Responding on Facebook, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Amirabdollahian was spreading “hints about alleged rejection by the Ukrainian side,” adding that “Ukraine is learning to believe only facts.” Iran’s foreign minister reiterated that Tehran “will not remain indifferent” if it is proven that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine. The European Union last month agreed to new sanctions against Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, and Britain imposed sanctions on three Iranian military figures and a defense manufacturer for supplying Russia with drones to attack civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
