Ukraine’s Foreign Minister said he demanded Iranian officials stop providing Russia with arms, according to a phone call with his Iranian counterpart.
Ukraine and its Western allies blame Iran for providing drones to Russia. These drones are called “kamikaze” drones. Moscow’s forces have used them in recent attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Iran denies sending any weaponry, including drones, to Russia.
John Kuleba tweeted “Today, I received a call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.”
“I demand Iran to halt the shipment of weapons to Russia,” he wrote. “These weapons are used in Russia’s campaign to kill civilians and destroy infrastructure in Ukraine.”
As Russia attacks Ukraine in recent weeks, it has unleashed a wave of missiles and drones that have hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and caused power cuts to places as far as Kyiv, countries, and towns.
As Iran’s spokesman, Amirabdollahian has given a statement on the situation between Russia and Ukraine, stating that he was ready to speak with Ukraine over claims that Tehran had sent drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
Amirabdollahian dismissed recent allegations that there were any negotiations about selling drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, IRNA said.
The foreign minister said, “We have recently exported weapons to Russia, but not during the Ukraine war,” according to IRNA.
The minister also said he discussed the issue of drones with the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who had visited Tehran a few days ago for talks with Iranian officials about their involvement in creating a mechanism for investigating alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.
“…He also asked Iran and Ukraine to evaluate claims on the use of Iranian-made drones in the Ukraine war and send military experts to do so,” IRNA quoted his statement as saying.
Russia has used drones in Ukraine to devastating effect and has relied on them as a key weapon during its war. In the past month, armed drones have targeted crucial energy infrastructure, leading to nationwide power shortages in Ukraine.
Ukraine has recently reported that it has shot down more than 300 Russian drones within the last few months. The drones have been identified as the Shahed-136 model, which is an Iranian-made drone.
Ukraine air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told journalists in Kyiv that Russia had ordered an estimated 2,400 kamikaze drones, although the exact extent of Moscow’s stock of armed drones was unknown.
The US has stated that the alleged export of “kamikaze drones” used in Ukraine could be a breach of the resolution, which could potentially trigger the automatically reinstating of international sanctions against Iran.
