(Reuters) – Iran first admitted on Saturday that it supplied Moscow with drones, but said it sent them pre-war to Ukraine, where Russia used them to target power plants and civilian infrastructure.
Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iranian foreign minister, said a “small number” of drones were sent to Russia a few months before Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Tehran of lying, saying Ukrainian forces shoot down at least 10 of these planes a day.
In Iran’s most detailed response to date on the drone issue, the minister denied Tehran’s continued supply of drones to Moscow.
“This hype made by some Western countries that Iran has supplied missiles and drones to Russia to help in the war in Ukraine – the missile part is completely wrong,” said Amir Abdollahian, quoted by IRNA.
“The drone part is correct, Russia provided us with a small number of drones months before the war in Ukraine,” he added.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported an increase in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, particularly against power plants and dams, using Iranian-made Shahed-136 aircraft. Russia denies that its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
In a video speech, Zelensky denounced talks about Iran’s limited supplies to Russia, saying Ukraine had 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 provides Iran in exchange for that cooperation,” he said. .
Robert Malley, the US special envoy for Iran, tweeted that it was not true that Iran had sent so few drones.
“They flew dozens of (drones) alone this summer and have military personnel in the occupied Ukrainian territories who are helping Russia to use them,” he added.
Zelensky, who has repeatedly lobbied Ukraine’s allies to provide it with more anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense equipment, said he expected “good news” in the coming weeks but did not elaborate.
Last month, two Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters that Tehran had promised to supply Moscow with surface-to-surface missiles, as well as more drones.
The Islamic Republic news agency quoted Amir Abdollahian as saying that Tehran and Kiev agreed to discuss allegations of using Iranian drones in Ukraine two weeks ago, but the Ukrainians did not attend the agreed meeting.
“We have agreed with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to provide us with the documents in their possession according to which Russia has used Iranian drones in Ukraine,” the minister said, but the Ukrainian delegation withdrew from the meeting scheduled at the last minute.
In a response posted on Facebook, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said Abdollahian was spreading “hints of alleged Ukrainian rejection”, adding that “Ukraine has learned to trust only the facts”.
Abdullahian reiterated that Tehran “will not remain indifferent” if it is proved that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine.
Last month, the European Union approved new sanctions on Iran for delivering drones to Russia and Britain imposed sanctions on three Iranian military figures and an aircraft manufacturer for providing Russia with drones to attack civilian and infrastructure in Ukraine.
