Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani said on Monday that Kiev failed to provide concrete evidence proving that Iran had supplied drones to Russia.
Last month, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN had requested to meet with Ukraine experts to provide Tehran with valid proof that Iran had supplied drones to Russia for combat use against Kiev’s forces.
Their failure to do so validates that the allegations were deliberately fabricated by Kiev to discredit and demonize Iran.
According to the minister of defense, Iran and Russia have a trade and military history that stretches back for decades, but they have never discussed supplying Iranian-made drones to be used in Russia’s special operation in Ukraine.
Ever since the White House issued the statement that Iran is planning to supply Russia with hundreds of drones in July, the West has repeatedly accused Iran of aiding Russia in its combat efforts, despite that Moscow itself denied allegations that it received drones from Iran for combat-related use.
The most recent accusations reportedly deliriously involve allegations that Moscow and Tehran reached a deal to launch a drone production facility in Russia that is expected to produce its first batch of drones in the next few months.
Tehran’s envoy to the UN has requested to hold a meeting with Ukrainian experts over the news which was published by The Washington Post in mid-November.
Iran has previously and repeatedly stated that it will not side in the war, denying all claims that it has provided Moscow with weapons to be used in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed earlier that Iran did provide a small batch of drones to Russia, but that was before the Ukraine conflict broke out.
On October 21, the E3, namely France, the UK, and Germany, filed a request to the UN to launch an investigation into the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2231 endorsing the JCPOA.
According to Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, the West is attempting to relate Security Council Resolution 2231 with the alleged use of drones in the Ukraine conflict, while in reality the resolution neither prohibits the export of weapons nor allots to the UN Secretariat the responsibility and capacity to carry out the investigation.
“It is ironic that these countries, particularly the three Permanent Members of the Security Council, accuse Iran of violating a specific paragraph of Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), while they continue to be in flagrant violation of all their explicit legal obligations under that same resolution,” Iravani said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
On October 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow and Tehran gave exhaustive explanations to the UN Security Council on the alleged use of Iranian drones in combat.
He further said that the two countries maintain the potential investigation into the case is “illegal”, adding that the UN does not have the mandate to carry out such an investigation.
Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
